The Teqball Tour Budapest kicked off on Thursday with 103 athletes representing 15 countries. On the first day, the men’s doubles faced each other and the favourites secured their spot in the quarterfinals.

The 32 duos of men's doubles were divided into 8 groups. Unfortunately, the Thai duo, Sorrasak Thaosiri/Jirati Chanliang, did not compete as Thaosiri got injured earlier. Although there were multiple three-setters, no surprises were realised in the group stage. In the Round 16, Apor Gyorgydeak (ROU)/Marek Pokwap (POL), as the highest-seeded duo, qualified first. Their opponent in the quarterfinals will be Zaid Eidan (KUW)/Bence Forgacs (HUN). On the same branch, the multiple world medallist Szabolcs Ilyes (ROU)/Saxe Paarup-Clausen (DEN) will face Gergo Dombai (HUN)/Bartlomiej Franczuk (POL). The second-highest-seeded twosome with the four-time world champion Hungarian, Adam Blazsovics and his compatriot, the world champion in men’s doubles from 2023, Balazs Katz, reached the QF without any loss set. Boldizsar Levik/Benjamin Patrik Toth (HUN) will try everything to dethrone their fellow athletes for the semifinals. Both Stefan Orlowski (POL)/Milan Csabi (HUN) and Peter Gergely/Martin Csereklye (HUN) had tough battles and won in two very close sets in the Round of 16. Their reward is to face each other and a highly expected rendez-vous. These matchups will take place on Saturday from 1 PM (CET).

"We haven't had our best form with Katz yet, but it's always a great experience to play on home soil. I hope that I will finish with two gold medals on Saturday. For this, we need to win our matches with Pechy tomorrow, with whom we also qualified for the World Teqball Championships. I am thrilled that we have many opponents here in Budapest who are also competing at the world champs, so we can prepare and practice against them, and I can get even closer to collecting the only missing World Championships gold medal from my collection," said the record champion, Blazsovics.

On Friday, the duels of women’s doubles and mixed doubles also start. In XD, the two-time world champions and current title holders Phakpong Dejaroen & Suphawadi Wongkhamchan have the target on their backs. One of the challenger are their compatriots, the world champion in men’s doubles, Jirati Chanliang and the 2024 ’Queen of Teqball’, Jutatip Kuntatong. World silver medallist of Ho Chi Minh City, Krisztina Acs/ Katz, and the bronze medallist Kinga Barabasi/Gyorgydeak already have history with the Thais; however, Pokwap/Vicsek & Blazsovics/Pechy both know the recipe for success in major, international Teqball events.

In women’s doubles, the unbeaten duo in their career, Kuntatong/ Wongkhamchan, are the favourites. Acs/Barabasi are one of the main contenders next to Pechy/Vicsek. However, Daytona Hansen/Nelly Wilke (GER), Samah Shakir Abed/Zahraa Alshammari (IRQ),  Anna Izsak/Zsofia Dezsenyi (HUN), and Amelie Julian (FRA)/ Silvia Ferrer Garcia (ESP) are all aiming for the podium.

Do not miss the action of the first Teqball Tour event of 2025 and follow the matches live on TeqTV on YouTube!