The biggest names in teqball from around the globe were in action at the European Teqball Tour in Naples from 24-26 June. Group and knockout action took place over the weekend as teqers competed in men’s singles and doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
The event in southern Italy was the third instalment of this year’s European Teqball Tour, following on from the last edition Tirgu Mures in Romania, and the locals were treated to a classic with some mouth-watering matchups.
The women’s doubles final saw a repeat of the final at the recent USA Teqball Tour in Miami, with the world number one duo of Carolyn Greco and Margaret Osmundson claiming revenge against the Hungarian team of Zsanett Janicsek and Lea Vasas with a 2-0 (12-7, 12-8) win.
In the men’s doubles, an all-Hungarian final was won 2-0 (12-2, 12-7) by Adam Blazsovics and Adam Bako, who had overcome the world number 1 pairing of Nikola Mitro and Bogdan Marojevic in the semi-final. In the final, world number 4 Blazsovics and number 19 doubles Bako beat Csaba Banyik and Zalan Szegedi, who are ranked 3 and 35 respectively, to take home gold without dropping a single set in the tournament.
The mixed doubles final was another all-Hungarian affair and comprised entirely of men’s and women’s doubles finalists. The team of Csaba Banyik and Zsanett Janicsek suffered a rare defeat in a close encounter with Adam Bako, who added to his earlier victory, and Lea Vasas who avenged her earlier loss. The 2-1 (12-9, 8-12, 15-13) victory for Bako and Vasas thrilled the crowd in what was the match of the tournament.
The men’s singles saw 8 of the top 10 ranked players competing, with Csaba Banyik, Julien Grondin, Apor Gyorgydeak, and number 1 Blazsovics all emerging from their groups with undefeated records. Blazsovics went on to defeat Mitro and Banyik on the way to the final where he faced Gyorgydeak, who had to beat Luka Pilic and world number 3 Julien Grondin on the way. Gyorgydeak was ultimately crowned as champion after a close 2-1 (7-12, 12-11, 13-11) victory.
With such high quality and close matchups, teqball fans were left eagerly awaiting the next instalment of the European Teqball Tour!