„Don’t change the winning formula” - the old saying goes. Well, last year’s World Teqball Championships proved to be the best one to date, so FITEQ decided to organize this year’s competition in Asia, too. For the first time ever, Vietnam will host the largest tournament with high expectations and an even higher number of participants as 221 players signed up for the event, setting a new record.

In 2023, history was made by crowning the sport’s first-ever world champions from Asia. In the women’s doubles, Jutatip Kuntatong and Suphawadi Wongkhamchan from Thailand put on a show on home soil, and unfortunately for the other 25 challengers, they still look unbeatable. If they manage to defend their title in Ho Chi Minh City, their undefeated stretch will exceed two years!

But before handing them the trophy without playing any matches, let’s see which teams could contend with them.

The Hungarians were supposed to compete with Krisztina Acs/Gabriella Kota, but due to the latter’s suspension, it is going to be a new team with Petra Pechy (who finished 2nd alongside Nora Vicsek in 2023) replacing the former FITEQ World Rankings leader.

We have not seen too much from last year’s bronze medallists, Vania Moraes de Cruz and Ester Viana Mendes (BRA) as they took part in only two international events since the WTCH2023, but a good sign is that they won the Teqball World Series in Tulsa this summer.

One spot from the 2023 top 4 got freed up after Team USA will not participate in this category, and there are plenty of units that set their sights on the semifinals. Poland’s Alicja Bartnicka/Zaneta Cygora are one of them after finishing strong in the Teqball World Series, winning a bronze at the last stop in Budapest. Kamar Dandal/Maria Chedid from Lebanon and Nelly Wilke/Daytona Hansen from Germany would need to win one more game than they did last year to reach new heights, and the same applies to European Championship bronze medallist Nanna Lind Kristensen (DEN) and her partner, Mira Faeno Dahlmann.

French Elisa Lanche and Nesraki Kahina are relatively unknown competitors so it is hard to predict how they would fare. Still, Lanche has some experience from major tournaments with a 4th-place finish back in 2023 at the European Games together with Amelie Julian.

Italian Mara D’Alessandro also made it to the semis in Krakow in singles and she has the opportunity to repeat, teaming up with Eleonora Cunsolo in Vietnam. Portuguese Ana Marques/Carla Couto can cause some surprises, too, just like Iryna Dubytska/Daria Zelenska from Ukraine, Lucie Strvtnova/Gabriela Zachova (CZE), or Adriana Kecerova/Timotea Jarosova (SVK).

The field also includes teams from Belgium, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Croatia, India, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia, Tunisia and Vietnam, the host country will be represented by Thi Huynh Nhu Khuat and My Thi Tra Tran.

The Teqball World Championships 2024 starts on 4th December, the games will be played at Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Plaza in Ho Chi Minh City.