Serbian Nikola Mitro will have a chance to strike back for his loss in the World Teqball Championships 2024 final against Romanian Apor Gyorgydeak, as these two players made the gold medal game in Teqball World Series Dezhou. The path was rough for both of them as Mitro had to break his friend’s heart in the semifinal, while Gyorgydeak was also a couple of points from elimination.

While Friday was all about the upsets, the youth movement and a glimpse of what the future of Teqball could look like, some of the current champions on Saturday said ‘Not so fast, young guns, we are still here!’ and dominated the men’s singles category.

The group stage was a cakewalk for every contender; only Stefan Orlowski (POL) dropped a set among them to the 'Teqball Monk', Pornthep Wapisiri (THA), but the 16-year-old eventually finished on top of Group N.

The Round of 32 was similar; the favourites did just enough to proceed to the next round, where we could watch the real derbys. Orlowski had to face three-time doubles world champion Nikola Mitro (SRB), who finished 2nd in singles at the World Teqball Championships 2024. The young Polish won the opening set, but Mitro kept his cool and closed out his opponent in the next two sets. In the quarterfinal, he eliminated Orlowski’s doubles partner, 17-year-old Milan Csabi (HUN), to make it to the semifinal, where he had to go against… his own teammate and friend, Bogdan Marojevic (SRB). And man oh man, did they put on a show? Mitro took home the first set with a two-point margin, then he was two points away from winning the match in the second, only to see his lead slip away. Marojevic dominated the third set, as he had 7 chances to close out his compatriot and advance to his first-ever individual major final. But it just was not meant to be: Mitro fought back and somehow completed the comeback in overtime, setting up the rematch of the 2024 WCTH gold medal game.

In the meantime, on the upper bracket, 2022 and 2024 singles world champ Apor Gyorgydeak (ROU) experienced something that he is not very used to: after eliminating Uthen Kukheaw (THA) in the Round of 16, he lost a set to 2023 doubles world champion Balazs Katz (HUN) and was just four points away from suffering his first loss in almost 18 months. But he is considered the best individual player for a reason; he rallied with five consecutive points and edged out Katz. Then, after a short break, he clashed with 2024 doubles world champion Jirati Chanliang and returned to his dominant form, allowing only 11 points to the up-and-coming Thai star and securing a spot in the final. With these results, it became certain that the Teqball World Series Dezhou will be the first major FITEQ tournament in more than two years where none of the Thai athletes will participate in the finals.

‘I like to play in singles and I am happy with this bronze medal. I will work even harder to achieve greater success in this category, but the men’s doubles remain my favourite, so we will put emphasis on that’ - said Jirati Chanliang.

Only three games remained from the schedule, but those are the three most important ones. On Sunday, the champions will be crowned in the three finals, starting with the men’s doubles from 3 PM (local time), where Hungarians Soma Cseri/Gergo Dombai will try to put the cherry on top of their already career-best result. It will not be easy, though, as they have to defeat Gobek’s superteam Apor Gyorgydeak/Marek Pokwap (ROU/POL), and the latter is also aiming for his first TWS title.

The Polish phenom is going to have another chance as he will be featured in the mixed doubles final from 4 PM, too. Pokwap marched through the field alongside Kinga Barabasi (ROU), proving that this new duo is destined for success. After eliminating two-time defending world champions Suphawadi Wongkhamchan/Phakpong Dejaroen (THA), another hard task awaits them in 2023 world bronze-medallists Krisztina Acs/Csaba Banyik (HUN), who won multiple TWS golds last year.

The event will end with the men’s singles final, where Mitro will have the chance to end the Gyorgydeak’s unbelievable streak of 75 victories, but it will not be easy. The last matchup of Teqball World Series Dezhou starts at 5 PM.

Do not miss the action, so tune into TeqTV on YouTube!