Winter Haven Preview: East Division Playoff Race Enters Critical Stage
Daniel Gorak, Marc Duran and Benjamin Brossier bring their talents to the Advent Health Field House in Winter Haven, FL on February 9-11. Can they hold off the late charge from the Princeton Revolution?
February 5, 2024. The four teams in MLTT’s East Division descend upon Winter Haven, FL this weekend as the race for the playoffs (or more specifically, for the one remaining playoff spot) kicks into overdrive. Barring a cataclysmic collapse, Carolina has their playoff ticket already punched, but this weekend’s results will be critical to the playoff hopes for both Florida and Princeton, while an outside chance still exists for Chicago if they can pull off a miracle.
Current standings in the East. Unlike the wild, wild west, the East Division battle lines are drawn out with absolute clarity.
We’ve received the official rosters for all four teams from MLTT, and so we present them here in rating order. For all of you Fantasizer MLTT fantasy league players out there, keep in mind that MLTT match rules stipulate that a team’s top two ranked players must play in the A/B (up) position, while your 3rd and 4th ranked players must play in the C/D (down) position, and that one (male) player must sit out per match…most teams sit their 3rd, 4th and 5th ranked players once each per event.
Carolina Gold Rush: 1-Enzo Angles, 2-Romain Lorentz, 3-Kai Zhang, 4-Bastien Dupont, 5-Jeremy Hazin, 6-Hong Lin
Florida Crocs: 1-Daniel Gorak, 2-Marc Duran, 3-Benjamin Brossier, 4-Matilda Ekhom, 5-Ojo Onaolapo, 6-Daniel Gonzalez
Princeton Revolution: 1-Jinxin Wang, 2-Jishan Liang, 3-Mathieu De Saintilan, 4-Ievgen Pryschepa, 5-Koyo Kanamitsu, 6-Angela Guan
Chicago Wind: 1-Sasha Khanin, 2-Alexandru Cazacu, 3-Daniele Pinto, 4-Dan Liu, 5-Tim Wang, 6-Emily Tan
Carolina, Florida and Princeton will compete with optimal or near-optimal rosters. Chicago sees the return of Sasha Khanin after a two-event hiatus, but #10 Damien Provost will not be present due to a conflict with his French league.
So while Carolina will likely operate in a prevent defense mode, and Chicago will be playing like a riverboat gambler with nothing to lose, Florida and Princeton find themselves locked in a Battle Royale for the 2nd and final playoff spot. Last month in Broward County, home team Florida was unable to deliver a knockout punch on Princeton despite the Revolutionaries playing shorthanded. Despite missing the services of Jinxin Wang, Koyo Kanamitsu, and with modern defender Mathieu De Saintilan battling the flu, Princeton was somehow able to defeat Florida and cut their lead from 21 to 13. The big question this coming weekend will be what happens in the titanic struggle between these two teams. Much will be answered on Friday night, when the two teams meet. Catch all the upcoming live-streamed action at MLTT’s Youtube channel here.
As usual for the East Division tour stops, Majorponghead will have a beat reporter on site taking in all the action, so check in with us early next week for a description of what promises to be a crucial and electric weekend of play.
Keep on pongin’, Pongheads!
