WPBL 2025: Pune United prevail over Mumbai Pickle Power in tie-break, reach final vs Bengaluru Jawans

Mumbai, Feb 1 (IANS) Pune United prevailed over Mumbai Pickle Power in a tie-breaker to emerge on top in a thrilling semifinal and secured a place in the final of the World Pickleball League (WPBL) here on Saturday. Top performers Mumbai Pickle Power were hoping to cap off their breathtaking campaign in WPBL with a win in the semifinal. But they suffered a surprise defeat in a tie-breaker to Pune United at the Brabourne Stadium.

Pune United will meet Bengaluru Jawans in Sunday’s final.

In an end-to-end captivating contest in the second semifinal, the game rounded off 2-2 in regulation time before it headed to the tie-breakers. Mihae Kwon and Kim Eung Gwon fought hard and stayed in the hunt for a place in the final until the last point, but Molly O’Donoghue and Louis Laville managed to edge past them by 7-5 to book a berth in the summit clash.

Mumbai Pickle Power entered the game without their star duo of Brandon Lane and Glauka Carvajal Lane, which meant that Bartosz Karbownik took the court for the men’s singles game against William Sobek.

Karbownik brought a different flair to his game as the match swayed both ways before getting locked in at 16-16, producing Karbownik’s second tie of the tournament. He had delivered a similar scoreline against Sonu Vishwakarma in the match against the Chennai Super Champs.

Pune United took the lead in the game as their pairing of Molly O’Donoghue and Talia Saunders saw past the duo of Sabrina Dominguez and Katie Morris by a 14-9 margin. Pune caught the pulse of the proceedings early on and built a considerable lead. Sabrina and Morris ventured their way back to cut the deficit in the final couple of minutes but ran out of time before they could get closer to Pune’s lead.

Mumbai Pickle Power stormed back in the following two matches though. Mayur Patil and Kim Eung Gwon put up an outstanding show in the men’s doubles clash against Vanshik Kapadia and Louis Laville. Mayur and Kim have been on a roll, bagging relentlessly positive outcomes and tonight was no different. The victory by 11-8 was full of incredible rallies that kept the spectators on the edge of their seats.

Mihae Kwon built on that momentum in her 15-14 triumph over Brooke Revuelta in women’s singles. Mihae was a livewire on the court, spanning across quickly and launching robust smashes that Revuelta was unable to respond to. The Mumbai star bounced back after trailing early on to clinch an important victory, but the mixed doubles result, where she paired with Kim went against the duo. They fell short by 11-6 to Molly O’Donoghue and Louis Laville, taking the game to the tiebreakers, where the side fastest to reach seven points would make it to the finals.

Mumbai were behind 4-1 at one point in the final clash, but Kim and Mihae found their footing to make the game 4-4 at one stage. However, a quick succession of a couple of points saw the game tilt in Pune’s favour, but Mumbai Pickle Power did sign off from the tournament with their heads held high.

Brief Scores

Bartosz Karbownik drew 16-16 to William Sobek

Sabrina Dominguez/Katie Morris lost 9-14 to Molly O’Donoghue/Talia Saunders

Mayur Patil/Kim Eung Gwon won 11-8 against Vankshik Kapadia/Louis Laville

Mihae Kwon won 15-14 against Brooke Revuelta

Mihae Kwon/Kim Eung Gwon lost 11-6 against Molly O’Donoghue/Louis Laville.

–IANS

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