We are only days away from what will be a historical event, the World Teqball Championships 2023. It is going to be the first WCh to be held outside of Europe as Bangkok will host the tournament with a record number of participants, having 211 athletes representing 61 countries.

45 teams from 45 countries will face off in Thailand in the men’s doubles, but only two of them will make it to the finals. If you have a certain idea about which two is it going to be, we believe you think about the Hungarian and the Serbian duos. The former has been undoubtedly the best in 2023, while the latter has monopolized the World Teqball Championships in recent years. They are the odds-on favorites to clash in the gold medal game, but is it that obvious?

Nikola Mitro and Bogdan Marojevic are the masters of the big stage. They live for the critical moments, and their resume speaks for itself.

They made their debut in 2018 and got the crown right away. A year after they took home the silver medal. Then in 2021, they sat back on the throne and defended it in 2022, winning 60% of the category’s World Teqball Championship titles.

But their quest for the hat trick is going to be as tough as it gets because another team has emerged and it almost does not even know what losing feels like. Csaba Banyik and Balazs Katz have been the dominant force, dating back to August 2022, and put up historical numbers. Out of the last 18 tournaments they participated in, they won 16 (including the European Championships) and got 2 bronzes. Their two losses came from teams that will not be present in Bangkok as Banyik/Katz beat them during the domestic qualifications, but at the Worlds, anything can happen. None of these two teams can take it easy, despite their members holding the top 4 positions in the World Ranking.

How about turning our attention to the challengers, because there are plenty of them. Brazilians Rodrigo Bento Medeiros and Matheus Ferraz have consecutive 4th-place results and they definitely would like to end their streak and improve at least one spot. Yassine and Youssef Sahli are the reigning African Beach Games champions and made it to the Round of 8 in the World Teqball Championships 2022 after defeating Dennis Correia and Santhy Montufar from the USA. Correia is back again, this time with Luka Pilic being his partner, and we also have singles world champion Apor Gyorgydeak from Romania, whose teammate is going to be Arnold Szilagyi. Adrian Duszak is a multiple WCh medallist but has not been able to reach the top 3 in this particular category. However, with Marek Pokwap by his side, he managed to claim the bronze in the European Games in Krakow earlier this year and they come to Thailand with the same team.

The home-field advantage will be with Phakpong Dejaroen and Boonkoom Tipwong in Bangkok. They are a relatively newly formed twosome and it is going to be their international debut with this lineup, but it is fair to guess that they have been preparing hard in order to win a medal for their fans.

The program will kick off with the group stages in the Hua Mak Arena on the morning of November 30, and the semifinals and the medal matches will be hosted by the Bangkok Arena on December 3.