Portland Paddles to Table Tennis Title

The Portland Paddlers topped their dominating season in Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) with a 21-18 over the Carolina Gold Rush in the title match.

The Paddlers led the league with a 16-2 record.

From MLTT news:

Portland’s Jens Lundqvist (2786) won the first Singles 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.

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).

Here are the MLTT 2026 Final Standings:

East

1. Carolina Gold Rush (199 pts)
2. Princeton Revolution (188 pts)
3. New York Slice (185 pts)
4. Atlanta Blazers (155 pts)
5. Florida Crocs  (131 pts)

West

1. Portland Paddlers (260 pts)
2. Chicago Wind (227 pts)
3. Texas Smash (184 pts)
4. Los Angeles Spinners (182 pts)
5. Bay Area Blasters (178 pts)

For more information on the league: https://www.mltt.com