MLTT Week 3 Summary: Portland Peddlers shine at home

(By Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT)

Major League Table Tennis brought its high-ooctaan format to the Pacific Northwest this weekend, with week 3 action in the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The hometown Portland Paddlers organized three other teams – the Los Angeles Spinners, Chicago Wind and title defender Carolina Gold Rush. The weekend was full of action, with the Golden Game decided one of the games.

Friday afternoon – Carolina Gold Rush vs. Chicago Wind:

The early game on Friday saw a dominant 18-3 victory through the Chicago Wind. Jeongwoo Park registered the first 3, empty and soils. Mo Zhang kept things rolling before the wind won 2 against 3 against Chen Sun. Doubles went to the gold rush with Enzo -corners and Kai Zhang took 2 of 3 over Jeongwoo Park and Sean Zhang. Then Robert Gardos won directly over Eugene who wanted to expand the lead of the wind to 9-3, and Emmanuel Lebesson effectively closed the door with a 3-0 sweep over Mohamed Shouman. They entered the Golden Game in 12-3 and dominated the Golden Game for a last victory of 18-3.

Friday evening – Portland vs. Los Angeles Spinners:

The first day ended with a primetime clash between host Portland Paddlers and the Spinners in Los Angeles. La took the early lead with Lubomir Pistej with 2 of 3 about Hampus Nordberg. The Peddlers’ Kotomi Omoda then equalized the score by winning 2 against Matilda Ekholm. La dominated double to win all three to take the 6-3 lead. However, the Paddlers came to win all 6 in the last two games with Kan-soo and Min Hyeok Kim, each of which maximum the score for the home team. This gave Portland a 9-6 advantage on the way to the last sprint to 21. Portland won the Golden Game 21-12 and extended their victory to 15-6.

Saturday afternoon – Carolina Gold Rush vs. Los Angeles Spinners:

In one of the tightest matches of week 3, the Carolina Gold Rush Los Angeles defeated 12-9. Carolina only surpassed their opponents in 2 of the 6 matchups. Enzo Angles defeated Kou Lei 2-1 and Eugene Wang defeated Lubomir Pistej 2-1. Each of the other games went to the Spinners with Matilda Ekholm who took 2 of 3 over Chen Sun, and Pistej/Sareen took 2 of 3 in double, and Alexandre Robinot won all 3 in his match against Mohamed Shouman. The result was a 9-6 advantage for the spinners. With the final phase counting for 6 points, however, this was tight enough to be decided in the Golden Game. That game went 21-14 in favor of the Gold Rush-Waardoor they had the 12-9 victory.

Saturday evening – Portland vs. Chicago Wind:

Portland could be seen again in the late game on Saturday – this time against Chicago Wind. This match was a one-sided victory, with the paddlers who went to the Golden Game 10-5. The only victory of the wind was Jeongwoo 2-1 over Min Hyeok Kim. All other games went to Portlant with Kotomi Omoda who won 3-0, Kumar/Nordberg won 2-1, Kang Dong-Sooo won 2-1 and Hampus Nordberg won 2-1. In the Golden Game, Portland won 21-12 for a cumulative points a total of 16-5.

Sunday morning – Chicago Wind vs. Los Angeles Spinners:

The early game on Sunday was between De Wind and Spinners, the two losers of the Saturday matches. This was another tight game with the two squadrons that almost entered the Golden Game (Chicago 8 – Los Angeles 7). The Wind won the first two games with Jeongwoo Park with 2 of 3 above cold lei and mo zhang, all three of them wipe against Matilda Ekholm. The first victory of the spinners came in double with slope and Sareen who all won about Gardos and Tran. The last two games were split with Wind’s Robert Gardos who took 2 of 3 about Robinot, and then Spinners took Lubomir Pistej 2 of 3 about Lebesson. With the Wind Up 8-7 they entered the Golden Game that ended in a very narrow 21-19 score (where Matilda Ekholm closes the door by winning the last two points). Spinners win 13-8.

Final Sunday Match – Portland vs. Carolina Gold Rush:

Sunday’s selection framework hosted Portland against the ruling MLTT champion Gold Rush. Despite how good Carolina had played, this game was not close. The paddlers dominated from the start when Kang Dong-Sooo all won three against Wei Wang. Kotomi Omoda kept the momentum by winning 2 of 3 against Chen Sun. Sid Naresh and Nikhil Kumar then expanded the lead by taking 2 of 3 upper corners and Kai Zhang. And Portland also won both last games with Min Hyeok Kim, who all won about Eugene Wang, and Hampus Nordberg took 2 of 3 over Enzo -corners. After this total dominance, Portland had risen 12-3 and had already won. But they did not let the Golden Game in, won 21-15 and brought out their final score to 18-3.

See you in Illinois:

Portland Paddlers went 3-0 at home and received a total of 5-1 for the season in the MLTT classification. The next MLTT event is in Bensenville, Illinois.