FREMONT, Calif. — Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) has a brand new champion.
The Portland Paddlers defeated the Carolina Gold Rush in the Season 3 Championship Match, 21-18. They complete their historic 16-2 regular season by unseating MLTT’s defending champions in their first-ever postseason appearance.
“If we finished fourth place in these playoffs, that’s normal,” Paddlers head coach Christian Lillieroos said on his mindset during Championship Weekend. “That we can make a win out of this is crazy.”
The Paddlers entered Championship Weekend without Kang Dong-Soo (SPINDEX: 2788), Hampus Nordberg (2758), Min Hyeok Kim (2735) and Minhyung Jee (2488). That forced Portland to travel to Fremont, Calif., with only four players from their roster and two free agents.
Of the Paddlers that made the trip, Sid Naresh (2606) and free agent Darryl Tsao (2550) brought valuable championship-winning experience with them. Naresh earned the second MLTT Cup of his career against the Gold Rush, who traded him prior to the Season 3 MLTT Draft for Wei Wang (2671).
Portland’s Jens Lundqvist (2786) won the first Siungles 1 game 11-8 over Carolina’s Eugene Wang (2804) in Singles 1. Wang took the second game after forcing a golden point, but Lundqvist restored the Paddlers’ match lead after winning another golden point to take the third game.
Carolina’s Chen Sun (2627) opened Singles 2 with an 11-9 victory over Portland’s Kotomi Omoda (2574) to tie the match at two games apiece. Omoda stormed back from a seven-point deficit to take the second game, but the Season 3 Women’s MVP tied the match once more after defeating Omoda 11-8 in the third game.
The Paddlers’ star duo of Naresh and Nikhil Kumar (2793) won the first Doubles game against Carolina’s Enzo Angles (2766) and Kai Zhang (2612). Angles and Zhang won the next two games 11-4 and 11-5 to give the Gold Rush their first lead of the match.
Angles wouldn’t let that lead slip away in Singles 3. He swept Paddlers free agent Carlos Hernandez (11-4, 11-9, 11-3) to extend Carolina’s lead to 8-4.
Kumar returned to the table for Singles 4 against Carolina’s Edward Ly (2703), with a chance to cut Carolina’s lead to just one point heading into the Golden Game. And with a hefty Golden Game deficit on the line, Kumar swept Ly (11-7, 11-9, 11-7) to take the overall match score to 8-7.
The Golden Game started with Lundqvist and Ly at the table, with the Gold Rush ahead by one point. Lundqvist won the next three points to tie the Golden Game at two points apiece, and Kumar kept Portland in the lead after his matchup with Wang.
Naresh extended Portland’s lead to 7-4 points against Sun before the Gold Rush called their first timeout of the Golden Game. Angles and Omoda took the table a few points later, extending the score to 10-7 in favor of the Gold Rush.
“Carolina had a shot of winning twice in a row,” Lillieroos said. “I don’t think I want to dream about that.”
The Gold Rush cut the Paddlers’ lead to just three points (16-13) before Portland called its first timeout of the Golden Game. When that timeout ended, Naresh scored two more points against Sun to take the Paddlers to 18 points.
Omoda, who scored the Paddlers’ final Golden Game point in the semifinal round, took the table against Angles. Angles cut the Paddlers’ lead to 19-17 before Hernandez and Zhang returned. A few points later, Hernandez scored the final point to secure the Paddlers their first championship in team history.
Hernandez’s teammates rushed the court, celebrating a title that seemed impossible for a depleted Paddlers team 48 hours ago.
“Despite the setbacks, we showed so much resilience, grit and hunger for that title,” Naresh said. “And that’s what it came down to.”
The Paddlers earned their spot in the Championship Match after defeating the Princeton Revolution 21-19 in a back-and-forth battle on Saturday. The Gold Rush earned theirs after surviving a second-half comeback attempt from the Chicago Wind, 21-17.
Prior to Championship Weekend, the Paddlers finished their regular season with an MLTT-leading 16-2 record and 260 points. They ended their season with a 12-match winning streak, with their last loss coming on Oct. 25 (Week 4).
The Paddlers are expected to return several of their key players ahead of Season 4, and will select with the 10th overall pick in the Season 4 MLTT Draft. They look toward the upcoming season with hope and optimism that it will end the way Season 3 did.
“The goal this season was to make the playoffs,” Lillieroos said. “We made that goal.”
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