Six world champions among the 41 registered athletes representing 11 countries, the Adriatic Teqball League - Sarajevo, promised world-class matches, and had not let the expectations down until the rain put an end to the competition. On the second day of the weekend, the 'Organising Sustainable Sports Events: Environmental Responsibility and Financial Sustainability' workshop showed once again its importance for local experts.

After the Adriatic Teqball League's season kicked off in the picturesque city of Ohrid, North Macedonia, and continued with a record-breaking event in Bar, Montenegro, the tournament returns to Sarajevo with two categories: men's singles and doubles, offering a €3,000 prize money.

In men's singles, the field was so huge that the organisers decided to go directly to the knockout stage. In the Round of 32, the favourites advanced confidently, then in the best 16, Balazs Katz (HUN) stopped his compatriot, the four-time world champion, Adam Blazsovics, in two sets. In contrast, the three-time world champion, Csaba Banyik (HUN), also dropped out against the new force from the next generation, Milan Csabi, another Hungarian. The rest of the outcomes were expected. The energised crowd wanted to see the revenge of Apor Gyorgydeak (ROU), whose 20-month series of winning ended against Marek Pokwap (POL), his clubmate as well as the rendez-vous of Hungarians, Katz-Csabi. However, rain started to pour and did not let the sides find out who was in the best shape. 

The group stage was held in men's doubles without any surprise. In the quarterfinals, one matchup promised a huge battle, Gyorgydeak/Pokwap against Csabi/Orlowski, however, the youngsters this time were not ready to slow down the heavy favourites. The newly formed Hungarian duo, Odnoga/Blazsovics seemed powerful, and their matchup against the Romanian/Polish twosome could have gone easily to the history books, but the weather of Sarajevo did not allow the opponents to play. Another chapter could have also been written between the three-time Serbian world champions Nikola Mitro/Bogdan Bogdanovic and Banyik/Katz, the 2023 world champions.

Still, the fans experienced high-class Teqball action as the athletes had exhibition matches after agreeing to stop the competition, and all of the semifinalists will share the same amount for FITEQ World Ranking points and prize money.

On August 19, the second workshop caught the attention of the almost 50 registered experts in the heart of the Bosnian capital. The campaign started at the previous ATL stop in Bar, Montenegro. This time, the 'Organising Sustainable Sports Events: Environmental Responsibility and Financial Sustainability' was the topic. The workshop brought together representatives from different stakeholders. Ms. Reka Reichard, Sport Development Manager of the International Federation of FITEQ. She shared the experience and vision of Teqball about being sustainable. After her, Mr. Krzysztof Ochedalski, President of the Polish Teqball Federation, followed. His key points were about achieving financial sustainability through a niche sport like Teqball. As Poland already organised a world championship, multiple major Teqball events like the 2023 European Games and the Teqball World Series back in 2022, and the 2023 'King of Teqball', Adrian Duszak, is from Poland, thus the nation can be easily called a powerhouse of Teqball. The attendees appreciated the presentations, with multiple follow-up questions to understand how Teqball reached the current heights in only ten years.

The President of Teqball Montenegro, and the owner of the ATL series, Milorad Sutulovic, shared his thoughts about the success of the two workshops:

"Through the ‘Explore More With Teqball’ project, we are not only building capacity for organising international sports events, but also showing that sustainability and sport can and must go hand in hand. This is already the second workshop we have delivered — following the first one in Bar, Montenegro — and it once again brought together expertise from the Visegrad countries and the Western Balkans. By focusing on practical and actionable approaches, we are equipping local organisers to create greener and financially stronger events that will leave a long-term impact on both sports tourism and local communities in our region."

The project is co-financed by the governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from the International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.

The next Adriatic Teqball League stop will be held in Croatia, Nova Gradiška, on the 13th of September.