Friday was a historical day for Teqball as the sport’s new major series, the World Teqball Series made its debut on the American continent. Tulsa, Oklahoma became the capital of Teqball for this weekend and the event started with the mixed doubles qualifiers and finished with the first medallists.

The group phase brought no surprise or shockers as all contenders solved it quite easily, just like the Round of 16. The QFs were a different animal though, with some special matchups and big names dropping out. Three-time men’s doubles world champs Bogdan Marojevic and Nikola Mitro had to face each other with Brazilians Ester Viana Mendes and Patricia Mayara Nardy on their respective sides. Viana Mendes/Marojevic emerged victorious in two close sets and advanced to the semifinals where they played against Romanians Kinga Barabasi/Apor Gyorgydeak (both of them being singles European champions), who defeated two-time women’s doubles WCh runner-up Margaret Osmundson and her partner, Dennis Correia (USA). The semifinal became a classic thriller after Barabasi/Gyorgydeak completed the comeback and made their way to the final.

On the upper bracket, Osmundson’s former teammate and 2022 singles world champion Carolyn Greco and Frankie Diaz could not handle fellow Americans Kindall Kaufmann/Luka Pilic and got eliminated in two sets despite having a set point at the end of the second. Kaufmann and Pilic met 3-time WCh silver medallists Vania Moraes da Cruz/Leonardo Lindoso de Almeida in the semifinal, and their journey came to an end there as the Brazilians were just too much for them. There were no hard feelings between the teams, though, as they posed happily for a photo together after the match.

On Saturday, the morning session will be about women’s doubles. The 10 teams were drawn into two groups, and the top two from each group will advance to the semifinals. In Group A we can find the Brazilian powerhouse duo of Ester Viana Mendes/Vania Moraes da Cruz and their countrywomen, Leticia Luzorio Barbosa/Patricia Mayara Nardy are favoured to make it to the top four. In Group B, look for a tight battle between Kinga Barabasi/Carolyn Greco (ROU/USA) and Margaret Osmundson/Nancy Avesyan (USA).

After the lunch break the men’s doubles will take over. The 18 participating duos were drawn into four groups, and even the group stage promises exciting clashes. Group A is headlined by Mitro and Marojevic, Group B includes 2022 singles world champ Apor Gyorgydeak alongside fellow Romanian Szabolcs Ilyes and Frankie Diaz/Bruno Milhomens (USA/BRA). Group C consists of three home teams and Julian Grondin/Bartlomiej Franczuk (FRA/POL), and in Group D there is another contender twosome in Leonardo Lindoso de Almeida/Leonardo Santana (BRA). The top 2 pairs move on to the quarterfinals, which are going to be the final matches of Day 2.

The matches can be followed on TEQ TV.