Events

MLP has arrived at King Kong Tournaments!

Challengers League will be composed of 4 players, (2 women and 2 men) with a max combined rating of 16 (ie: if you can manage to get two 4.5 players then remaining players must have a combined 7.0). As everyone can attest to, ratings can be a touchy subject but for our purposes, it will be ratings from roughly the end of Nov 2024 when teams started to form. To keep it simple, I will continue to bracket ratings as either 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, and 3.0 where, as an example, if your DUPR falls between 4.0 and 4.49, that will still be considered as a "4.0". Play will be from 10a-12p.

I will be looking to have at least 8 teams in the league but am willing to go as high as 16 if the demand is there. The number of teams signed up will also determine how the league will be structured and how many games there will be in a season. As currently planned for 8 teams, the season will be played for 7 weeks from February through the end of March, possibly going into early April for the playoffs and finals. Those playoffs and finals will be for the top 4 teams.

MLP Play consists of a women's doubles, a men's doubles, and 2 mixed doubles. There will be a coin toss to determine the following to start the game: 1) Serve or receive, 2) End, 3) Act or react, 4) Men’s or women’s doubles played rst. After the coin toss winner makes their rst selection, the opponent will then make their rst selection from the remaining options. The choice will then go back to the coin toss winner to make their second selection from the remaining choices and the last selection will be made by the opponent.

The team choosing to act will submit their lineup first for the first mixed doubles game. The team choosing to react will respond to their opponent’s mixed doubles lineup in the first mixed doubles game. This selection will be reversed if teams go to a DreamBreaker™. The team that chose to act for mixed will then react in the DreamBreaker™, and the team that chose to react in mixed will act in the DreamBreaker™.

Each match will consist of up to four (4) games to 21 (win by 2) with rally scoring, where a team must win a game on their serve. The four (4) games to be played will include: Women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and two (2) mixed doubles. The mixed doubles games will be played after the women’s and men’s doubles games. A DreamBreaker™ will be played to determine the winner of the match if teams are tied at 2-2 after the women’s doubles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles games. During the regular season, teams will play all four (4) games even if the score is 3-0 after the first mixed doubles game. Playoff matches will be played until a team wins three (3) games.

Games must be won on your serve (cannot win any more points via rally when you reach 20. Teams will switch ends at 11 and this also means that the second game will start from the end you finished the first game from. As you do not switch sides (odd/even court) during the game, the serve is made by the player on the even court when their score is even and from the player on the odd court when the score is odd. Serves can be volley or drop serves and there is no let. Teams may opt to switch sides (swap who is on the even and odd court) on their own time out. There is one  1 minute time out per game.

In case the regular match play ends in a 2-2 tie, teams will play a DreamBreaker™  game to 21 (win by 2) with rally scoring and a team must win while serving. Each team must rotate its four (4) players for four (4) singles rallies in a set order. The team that elected to react in mixed doubles will act first for the DreamBreaker™. That team will have one (1) minute to designate the rst player in the order of rotation of its four (4) singles players to the referee. That team’s rst player will be revealed to the opponent and then they will have one (1) minute to designate their opposing rst player to the referee. This process will repeat back and forth until all four (4) players on each team are declared. The DreamBreaker™ will use the same rally scoring used in each game as described in this guide. All team members will play in four (4) rally rotations until the DreamBreaker™ is concluded (player 1 plays four (4) rallies, then player 2 plays four (4) rallies, then player 3 plays four (4) rallies, then player 4 plays four (4) rallies, and then the rotation repeats in the same order). In the DreamBreaker™, players serve from the left or right side of the court based on their score. A player will serve on the right side when their team score is even, and serve on the left side when the team score is odd. During the DreamBreaker™, each team will be allotted one (1) “free” challenge and one (1) time-out. Teams will change ends when one team reaches a score of eleven (11).

If a team wins their match 4-0 or 3-1, they are awarded 3 points. If a team goes to a DreamBreaker™ and wins, they are awarded 2 points. If a team goes to a DreamBreaker™ and loses, they are awarded 1 point. If a team loses 1-3 or 0-4, they are awarded 0 points.

If you are out for any particular week, you, the captain of your team, will be responsible for finding a sub.

Entry fee for eacb team is $40 ($10 per person). What a deal!

Who's In!?!