With 58 players representing 13 countries from 4 continents, the Challenger Teqball League kicked off on the last weekend of the summer.

Santarém hosted the very first rendez-vous of the Challenger Teqball League with three doubles categories for a 3000€ prize pool. With multiple world, and Teqball Tour champions, the field was full of high-ranked players.

In women's doubles, the 9 pairs were divided into two groups. The favourites confidently advanced to the knockout stage where the world silver medallists, Petra Pechy/Nora Vicsek from Hungary reached the final and triumphed without any single loss set during the whole campaign. The second place went to Zsofia Dezsenyi (HUN)/Amelie Julian (FRA) who did not find the rhythm in their last match. The bronze medal went to the world championships fifth Silvia Ferrer Garcia/Ana Gomez I Vila (ESP) against Maria Chedid (LBN) and the home favourite Stephanie Brito. Ferrer Garcia just returned after a successful recovery from a knee injury and showed the world, she is ready.

The biggest names showed no mercy in men's doubles. However, in the Quarterfinals, the Brenno Reis Miller Silva Silva (BRA)/Zaid Eidan (KUW) duo shocked the Ukrainians Oleh Usychenko/Dmytro Shevchuk. Their story ended at the podium's lowest step after they made no mistakes against Lionel Beyer (FRA)/Rui Leitao (POR). Not surprisingly the most decorated Teqball athletes faced each other in the final as Adam Blazsovics (HUN)/Marek Pokwap (POL) fought Nikola Mitro (SRB)/Hugo Rabeux (FRA). Blazsovics/Pokwap seemed to be too powerful and controlled the whole game leaving no chance to the opponents and won in two sets (-8,-6).

Marek Pokwap (POL) in yellow was unstoppable during the whole competition.

The biggest field with 22 pairs competed in mixed doubles. As its final was the last act of the Challenger Teqball League - Santarém Cup, there was only one question left: who would finish with two trophies at FITEQ's debuting tournament? While the first two rounds of the playoff were mostly one-sided, the semis were like a roller-coaster. On both branches, the winners moved on after three sets. The matchup between Pechy/Blazsovics - Chedid/Mitro became a classic where the Hungarians won with the final set of 14:12. As a sweetener, Chedid/Mitro took the bronze game after coming back from 1:0 against Julian/Rabeux and triumphed in three. In the final, Poland's young prodigy, Pokwap showed once again his talent next to Vicsek. The international twosome took the victory against Pechy/Blazsovics in two super close sets as the point difference was altogether three points. 

"As the organizer of this first stage, I'm pleased that we successfully met our goals, even exceeding athletes' expectations." started Rui Leitao, FITEQ Executive Board Member who also competed at the event, "With my background as a player and representative, I felt a strong responsibility to elevate the event's organization to meet our needs. Finishing the competition on time each day allowed us to foster camaraderie and build a community spirit among the athletes. Santarém, a small and welcoming city, was the perfect setting for this. The positive feedback from the athletes has been incredibly rewarding and makes me very proud." said Leitao.

The next Challenger Teqball League event will be held in Malaga between October 11 & 13. The player registration ends on the 27 of September to the Challenger Teqball League - Malaga Marca Cup.