PLEASANTON, Calif. — Jens Lundqvist sighed and looked toward the ground before leaving the table. His Portland Paddlers had a 4-11 match lead heading into his third game against the Florida Crocs’ Daniel Gorak, the final game of the fourth singles set. One more win could secure Portland the first-ever match victory of the 2025-26 Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) season.
Lundqvist got close to that goal, but Gorak held on to win that game 11-9 for Portland. The match score was now 5-11. The winner of the upcoming six-point Golden Game was all but certain to go home with the first victory in their record book, and the Paddlers know that becoming that winner is no small task.
“There’s so many times in MLTT [where] we did very good up until the Golden Game,” Paddlers coach Christian Lillieroos told Table Tennis TV. “It looks like we have an easy victory, but it’s so many times that can be spoiled in the Golden Game.”
There was no time for Lundqvist to dwell on the loss. The suddenly pivotal Golden Game was about to begin. Lillieroos and Florida coach Frank Arias gathered at the center of the court to decide the lineups. Florida’s first player? Daniel Gorak. But who on the Paddlers would face him? Lillieroos looked at his roster sheet for a few seconds before making his decision.
Jens Lundqvist.
“Jens lost to Gorak, and then he goes in directly afterwards to play Gorak,” Lillieroos said. “He was very upset [about the loss].”
Portland had a six-point cushion leading up to the Golden Game. Hampus Nordberg, Kotomi Omoda and Kang Dong-Soo all took two of three possible games against Marc Duran (8-11, 11-2, 11-5), Peiyu Zhu (11-3, 11-10, 7-11). And during the first open serve doubles set in MLTT history, Nikhil Kumar and Sid Naresh won all three games over Carlos Hernandez and Chiwei Yeh (11-8, 11-4, 11-3).
Still, there was heavy pressure on Lundqvist heading into this Golden Game. Not only did he just lose a very close set to Gorak (9-11, 11-10, 9-11), but he would now have to defend his team’s six-point lead against that same opponent.
The Crocs’ first victory of Season 3 was on the line, and Lundqvist knew it. There was no way he would let Gorak get the better of him this time. He opened the Golden Game with two quick points against Gorak, giving his teammates an 8-0 lead as the game continued.
“6-0, 7-0, 8-0,” Lilleroos said, “That was everything.”
Those teammates kept Lundqvist’s momentum, holding the Crocs to just six points before Kang reached 18 points. Lundqvist and Gorak returned to the table, and the Paddler had his mission. If Lundqvist scored just three more points, Portland would win the match.
Two quick outs from Gorak allowed Lundqvist to reach match point. Just one more for Portland to win. It wouldn’t come on this next rally. Gorak got the better of Lundqvist for Florida’s seventh point, but that would be the last time he’d do so for the match. Gorak hit one more out to send Portland home with their first victory of Season 3.
“To be able to turn around [Lundqvist’s Singles 4 result] against the same player that he lost to, and almost have a perfect Golden Game,” Lillieroos said, “That is experience, and that’s mental strength to no end.”
The Paddlers and Crocs will return to Alameda County Fairgrounds on Saturday for the second night of MLTT’s Season 3 opening weekend. Florida will face the Texas Smash at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, and Portland will face the hometown Bay Area Blasters AT 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
