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On the brink of an early exit in the PDC Cup quarterfinals, Mike Ferreira & Yvain Badan fought off multiple match balls to recover and pull together their second SDA Tour title run of the season at the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, Georgia.
The tournament’s top seeds encountered fellow Trinity Bantams Baset Chaudhry & Bernardo Samper in the quarterfinals and found themselves down 14-13 in the fourth game, at which point Ferreira returned a serve with a backhand volley winner to force a simultaneous match and game ball at 14-14. After two lets, a Badan cross court gave them new life in the fifth game, which they pulled out 11-9.
“It was a very tough quarterfinal against Bernado and Baset, which we managed to get through, albeit by razor thin margins in the fourth,” Ferreira said. “They are a solid team and when we drew them in the quarters we knew we were going to have a tough game. We were fortunate to win a very tight fourth game, where we came back from behind twice to win and that definitely gave us some confidence and momentum going into the fifth game.”
“We had a good win in a tough match against them in NYAC, so to Mikey’s point, we knew it was going to a difficult match and we were prepared to be there for as long as it would take.” Badan added. “Obviously, we were very lucky in fourth game. Mike is a fierce competitor, so it’s great to have him by my side during these close/tight matches.”
Australians Matt Jenson & Scott Arnold met the top seeds next in what was their second consecutive semifinal appearance following St. Louis, but couldn’t get past Ferreira & Badan, losing in four games. In the bottom half of the draw, Jonny Smith & Chris Callis—first-time partners this season—reached their first final together as the three seeds. Smith & Callis upset two seeds Raj Nanda & Viktor Berg in the semis, coming back from a game down to reach the final in four games.
A close final saw both the second and third games decided at 14-14, both of which Ferreira & Badan capitalized on to win the title in three games.
“Obviously is felt amazing to win the final,” Badan said. “Smith & Callis had a great tournament defeating Berg & Nanda in the semis, so again we were well prepared for a tough match. At 14-14 all, anything can happen.”
“In the finals we played well and a pretty consistent game against a good team,” Ferreira added. “I think all the players were a little tired already with us both having played a tough semi and high quality pro am matches earlier in the day. We managed to be disciplined and for the most part stuck to our game plan. Winning at 14 all is always a little bit of a toss up but I think our mentality was to play those point even a little harder and with more intensity and really hope for the best.”
Ferreira marks his maiden PDC Cup title, while Badan celebrates his second in addition to the 2014 title with Manek Mathur.
“We are both really excited and pleased with our performance this weekend,” Badan said. “It is an amazing Event and an amazing crowd, which makes the title even more meaningful. For me personally to win a Platinum Event twice, with two different partners, is a great feeling. We want to thank Ahmed and everyone from the PDC who makes this event happen. We already look forward to seeing our friends from the PDC next year.”
“It felt really great to win down at PDC,” Ferreira said. “It is such a great club and the membership showed us a fantastic time down there and I am already looking forward to next year.”
Watch PDC replays below.