On Sunday, the doubles categories' semifinals and finals were held in Ho Chi Minh City. Thailand made it to all three finals, then won them so they ended the World Teqball Championships 2024 on the highest possible note.

After becoming Asia’s first-ever individual world champion, Jutatip Kuntatong (THA) returned to Table 1 in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday morning. The reason was she was also featured in the women’s doubles semifinal alongside Suphawadi Wongkhamchan, trying to go back-to-back in this category. Their first task was to eliminate Denmark’s first-ever WCh medallists, Nanna Lind Kristensen/Mira Faeno Dahlmann, and they succeeded in two very lopsided sets, allowing their opponents only 4 points in both periods.

The second semifinal promised to be much closer between Krisztina Acs/Petra Pechy (HUN) and Ester Viana Mendes/Vania Moraes da Cruz (BRA). The first set was a true rollercoaster: the Brazilians scored the first point, the Hungarians answered with four in a row, and after that, the South Americans put together a 7:1 run. Then we were all tied up at 10, and it was the Brazilian duo that scored the last two points.

They carried on the momentum and were playing with huge confidence, however, at 9:5, something went wrong for them. The Hungarians took advantage of that and put up a 7:1 run to snatch the set and stay in contention. They could not stop scoring at the start of the third set at 5:0, then obtained six matchpoints at 11:5. However, Team Brazil incredibly fought back and tied it up at 11, then saved another match point at 12:11, but they still fell short as Acs/Pechy kept their cool and held them off, scoring the next two and winning this instant classic 2:1 to make it to the final.

In the men’s doubles, defending champions Csaba Banyik/Balazs Katz had to face Adrian Duszak/Marek Pokwap (POL), who started strong and took a 3:0 lead, only to watch the Hungarians rally past them and go up 9:5. It was far from over, though, as the Polish tandem equalized quickly, but Banyik/Katz closed things out with a 3:1 run.

The bleachers were crowded during the whole World Teqball Championships 2024.

The teams played amazing rallies, which the crowd admired a lot, but in the second part of the second set, Duszak/Pokwap capitalized on the Hungarian errors and evened up the score. Then drama struck in the third period as Katz rolled his ankle when trying to collect a ball. He recovered after a couple of minutes but they went down 1:5 after that. The reigning champs did their best to crawl back into the game and caught the challengers at 9, however, the Polish team resurrected and won the next three rallies to complete the comeback and advanced to the final, which was a first for Pokwap.

The next matchup between Thailand’s Jirati Chanliang/Sorrasak Thaosiri and India’s Declan Gonsalves/Anas Beg was not that close. The Indian team played without any pressure after making history by securing the first medal for their country, but they knew they would need a miracle against the high-flying Thais. The Asian derby ended up being a bit one-sided as Chanliang/Thaosiri did not leave any chance for an upset, and advanced to the final in this category, too.

Then it was the mixed doubles’ turn, where Amelie Julian/Hugo Rabeux entered the last day knowing they had already written history by winning France’s first team medal. They faced Hungary’s Acs/Katz, a team consisting of two players who had already played on Sunday. The French team pulled off an upset on Friday against 3-time silver medallists Vania Moraes da Cruz/Leonardo Lindoso de Almeida (BRA) in the quarterfinals but did not manage to repeat this feat as the Hungarians were too much to handle, winning both sets by a sizeable margin.

In the last semifinal, the defending champs Wongkhamchan/Phakpong Dejaroen played against the newly formed Romanian superteam of now back-to-back individual bronze medallist Kinga Barabasi and now two-time singles champ Apor Gyorgydeak. The match lived up to the expectations as the sides went back and forth in the opening set, which was decided by one point in favour of the Thais. The second period was even more epic, the Romanians saved three matchpoints and stole the set, but fell behind early in the third and did not manage to come back, so the Thais advanced to their second final in a row.

After a short break, the end game started with the remaining three matches of the WCh, first with the women’s doubles.

Kuntatong/Wongkhamchan wanted to show as early as possible that they were here to repeat and jumped to a 7:2 lead. Acs/Pechy answered with a 7:1 run on their own, and not only tied the game up but took the lead. It was a wake-up call for the Thais who stopped the bleeding and scored four points in a row to take a 1:0 lead. In the second set, they went neck and neck, the Hungarians did not let the champs pull away. It was all tied up at 8, but the Thai duo once again stepped up its game when it mattered the most, fought off the Hungarian attempt to turn the match the other way and closed them out. They successfully defended their title, and just like Apor Gyorgydeak in men’s singles, they went undefeated in 2024 in their category.

Final, women’s doubles

Jutatip Kuntatong/Suphawadi Wongkhamchan (THA)–Krisztina Acs/Petra Pechy (HUN) 2:0 (9, 9)

“My goal was to win two gold medals here and I did it, so I am very happy. We knew that the Hungarian team was going to be very dangerous, so we analyzed their style and created a gameplan against them and prepared a lot” - said the now-three-time world champion Jutatip Kuntatong.

The streak is alive: Nobody ever topped the Thai duo of Suphawadi Wonkhamchan and Jutatip Kuntatong!

The men’s doubles gold medal game was similar, if not more exciting. Chanliang/Thaosiri brought their A-game to the final and sometimes it seemed that Duszak/Pokwap had no solution to the Thai team that was looking for its first-ever gold in this category. They created a tiny cushion that they managed to hold onto until the end of the set and took a 1:0 lead.

The stakes were sky-high, and sometimes the pressure got the best of the players as they committed plenty of double faults. The Thais made more errors and found themselves behind by so many points that even though they tried to rally back, Team Poland held them off. In the deciding set, Chanliang/Thaosiri enjoyed an early 3-point lead, but after 3:6, Duszak/Pokwap found another gear and delivered a 5:0 run. Yet, the Thais saved more fuel to the end, came back and edged out the Polish twosome to make it two golds for their nation on Sunday!

Final, men’s doubles

Adrian Duszak/Marek Pokwap (POL)–Jirati Chanliang/Sorrasak Thaosiri (THA) 1:2 (-10, 9, -9)

“We were already proud to be here and represent Thailand; now we are world champions. The final was very tough, Poland has an incredible team so we talked a lot about our strategy. We knew it would take hard work to beat them in the gold medal game” - said Chanliang and Thaosiri after winning the first gold medal for Thailand in the men’s doubles.

The flying Thais were only stopped in the men's singles.

Teqball’s newest superpower really wanted to go 3-for-3 on Sunday, but Acs/Katz had other ideas in the mixed doubles. They were ahead of Wongkhamchan/Dejaroen for the majority of the first set, and when the Thais equalized at 9, they bounced back and got the set win. The second period was all about the defending champs who evened the match with a dominating set. The third brought the drama, and how else could this already memorable WTCH have ended? Acs/Katz led 10:9 and were two points away from dethroning the Thais, who kept their cool and hit back with three straight points, which meant the third gold for them on Day 5, and the fourth altogether in Ho Chi Minh City.

Final, mixed doubles

Krisztina Acs/Balazs Katz (HUN)–Suphawadi Wongkhamchan/Phakpong Dejaroen (THA) 2:1 (10, -4, -10)

„We won three gold medals today and four on the weekend, it is amazing! We ended this World Teqball Championships with five medals, so we are very happy. This final was very hard for us, the Hungarian team is so strong!” - said the winning duo after the ceremonies.

Balazs Katz (HUN) finished the World Teqball Championships 2024 with one silver and one bronze medals, however he prepared for more.

Balazs Katz (HUN) finished the World Teqball Championships 2024 with one silver and one bronze medals, however he prepared for more. 

There were some individual accolades that we should mention: on Saturday, Nikola Mitro (SRB) became the first player to win a medal in three different categories, and was joined by Gyorgydeak and Duszak on Sunday, forming a pretty illustrious group, so fitting for this historical World Teqball Championships 2024.