Kihara and Mercier battling for top spot on PokerStars Team Pro leaderboard

(PRESS RELEASE) -- With the first week of the 2016 Spring Championship of Online Poker done and dusted, and 26 of 55 events already complete, it's time to take a look at which Team PokerStars.com Pros are in the running to win the first Team PokerStars SCOOP Leaderboard.

Unsurprisingly, last year's SCOOP Player of the Year, Jason Mercier, is in contention for ultimate bragging rights, with 16 cashes helping him to a total of 315 points. But it's Team PokerStars Pro Online player, Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara, who currently leads the way on 330 points courtesy of 15 cashes, including two 3rd-place finishes over the weekend. The Japanese player will take some stopping as he plays all the games, having cashed in Draw, Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Badugi and Mixed Omaha tournaments so far.

Meanwhile, two-time SCOOP Player of the Year runner-up, George Danzer, sits in third place at this stage, having amassed 195 points from 15 cashes. Having reached his first final table of the series over the weekend, the signs are that Danzer is beginning to find some form. He'll need to as well, with a $10,000 prop bet with Mercier on the line for whoever finishes highest.

With 30 more events to come, though, there's still plenty of time for several other Team Pros to make their name and shoot up the leaderboard.

Twitch-streamer extraordinaire, Jaime Staples, is going strong in fourth, and it would a be a foolish person indeed that ruled out the likes of Jason Somerville and Marc-Andre Ladouceur from going on a heater to win.