Four Teams. One Title. No Margin for Error.

Championship Weekend is different.

One lost match means you’re out. That creates pressure from the first point. And in the end, the Golden Game decides everything, especially when a lead no longer caps at five points.

Only four teams remain. Each brings a different path to the title.

Carolina Gold Rush

The most complete team in the field

Roster:
Alex Yang (Coach), Enzo Angles, Edward Ly, Eugene Wang, Chen Sun, Wei Wang, Kai Zhang

Power Ranking anchors:
Chen Sun (#7), Eugene Wang (#10), Enzo Angles (#14)

Carolina has the best balance in the tournament. They roll out quality at every position. No weak matchups. No easy points.

They do not rely on one player. They win across the lineup.

Why they can win

• Depth from top to bottom
• Flexibility in lineup decisions
• Multiple Golden Game options

What to watch
If matches stay close, they bring opponents into the Golden Game. That adds risk.

Princeton Revolution

Built around the top

Roster:
Mathias Habesohn (Coach), Jinxin Wang, Benedek Olah, Cho Seungmin, Hsien Tzu Cheng, Jiangshan Guo, Koyo Kanamitsu

Power Ranking anchors:
Cho Seungmin (#1), Benedek Olah (#20)

Princeton has the best individual player in MLTT. That matters in this format.

Cho gives the Revolution a point nearly every time he steps on the court. Olah brings experience and composure.

Why they can win

• Elite top-end performance
• Strong structure and discipline
• Final Weekend, came through in final match

What to watch
They must win their top matchups. If they split, pressure shifts to the rest of the lineup.

Chicago Wind

Three-player strength changes everything

Roster:
Eric Owens (Coach), Emmanuel Lebesson, Mo Zhang, Sean Zhang, Daniel Tran, Robert Gardos, Jeongwoo Park

Power Ranking anchors:
Robert Gardos (#4), Emmanuel Lebesson (#6), Jeongwoo Park (#16)

Chicago has three players inside the Top 16 of MLTT’s power rankings list, which gives them one of the strongest cores in the league.

Gardos and Lebesson can control matches early. Park adds a reliable third option.

Why they can win

• Strongest top-three unit in the field
• Ability to build early leads
• Dangerous in short formats

What to watch
The middle lineup must hold. If they do, Chicago becomes very difficult to stop.

Portland Paddlers

Short-handed, but still dangerous.

Roster:
Christian Lillieroos (Coach), Nikhil Kumar, Sid Naresh, Jens Lundqvist, Kotomi Omoda, Carlos Hernandez (FA), Darryl Tsao (FA)

Key absences:
Min Hyeok Kim, Kang Dong-Soo, Hampus Nordberg, Minhyung Jee

Power Ranking anchors (active):
Jens Lundqvist (#5), Nikhil Kumar (#11), Kotomi Omoda (#28), Sid Naresh (#36)

This is the biggest storyline of Championship Weekend.

Portland is missing three key players, including Nordberg (#9), one of their anchors. That removes depth and reduces margin, but they still bring elite talent at the top.

Why they can win

• Lundqvist controls pace and pressure
• Nikhil Kumar can beat top players
• Omoda has delivered in Golden Game moments
• Free agents bring unpredictability

They are the one team no one can fully prepare for.

What to watch
Chemistry and matchups. They must stay close early and push matches into the Golden Game.

What the Power Rankings Tell Us

• Princeton has the top individual player (#1 Cho)
• Chicago has elite top-three strength (#4, #6, #16)
• Portland still has high-end talent despite key absences
• Carolina has the best overall balance

The Match Within the Match: The Golden Game

Every match builds toward one moment: the Golden Game

Five players. Rotations. Pressure.

Teams that fall way behind no longer have the five-point cap as a cushion. But as with every Golden Game, you can control the match and still lose here.

The teams that win will trust five players to deliver when it matters most.

How To Watch

All matches are FREE TO WATCH via the following platforms:

• Semifinals & 3rd Place Match: Stream live on YouTube or Table Tennis TV.
• MLTT Championship Final: Exclusive to Table Tennis TV. Access is free with a simple account sign-up.

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