The PBA Team League's Breakers snapped a four-match losing streak Tuesday, powered by a standout performance from their foreign player duo.
On the seventh day of the "Welcome Savings Bank PBA Team League Hwaseong Special City Tour 2026-2027," held at the Hwaseong Sports Complex indoor gymnasium in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, the Breakers defeated NH NongHyup Card 4-2 in sets.
The Breakers had previously broken a nine-match skid by beating Hana Card on Thursday before falling into another four-match losing run, but they ended that streak by getting past NH NongHyup Card. Having managed just one win in the first round, the Breakers recorded their second victory of the second round against five losses. They still failed to escape last place, however, trailing ninth-place Welcome Savings Bank (1 win, 6 losses, 6 points) by one point.
After the Breakers seized a 3-0 set lead only to be pegged back to 3-2, Japan's Hida Orie delivered the decisive moment in the sixth set — executing a side-spin bank shot in the 13th inning to overturn a 7-8 deficit, then adding a cushion shot to seal a 9-7 win and carry the team to victory.
Huons extended their winning run to eight straight matches with a 4-1 set victory over SY. With the score tied 1-1, Choi Seong-won won the third set 15-11 in 15 innings against Turkey's Burak Hasasi to restore the lead. In the fourth set, Robinson Morales of Colombia and Kim Ye-eun beat Choi Won-jun and Gwon Bal-hae 9-7 in six innings. Kang Dong-gung then closed out the match in the fifth set, achieving a perfect cue — scoring all points in a single inning — against Mori in just one inning.
Huons, unbeaten through the second round, are on the verge of clinching the round title. They can secure it outright by earning two or more points against NH NongHyup Card at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Alternatively, if third-place Harim beats second-place Crown Haitai — both at 5 wins and 2 losses with 13 points — in the full-set 6 p.m. match preceding Huons' game and takes two points, all other teams' title hopes would be eliminated and Huons would be crowned champions regardless.
Meanwhile, in other matches Tuesday, High1 Resort ended a three-match losing streak by defeating Welcome Savings Bank 4-1 in sets, while Hana Card beat Crown Haitai 4-0 to extend their winning run to two. Harim defeated Woori Financial Capital 4-1.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
