Carvana Championship Sunday at the Pickleball Central Indoor National Championships certainly saved the best for last with the men’s doubles final pitting top seeds Andrei Daescu/Gabe Tardio against No. 2 seeds Hayden Patriquin/Christian Alshon.

After Daescu/Tardio forced Game 5 to extend the match, they quickly fell into a 2-8 deficit in the decider before going on a furious 10-2 run to close out the instant classic by way of a 1-11, 14-12, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10 after nearly two hours on court.

Both Tardio and Patriquin—who are Major League Pickleball teammates on the St. Louis Shock—had been dealing with illnesses throughout the week at Life Time Lakeville, but they both raised the level to allow for some epic points down the stretch.

Tardio took full control with an expertly executed drive and crash at 10-10 in the fifth game, a point that set him and Daescu up to clinch the win a few moments later.

Daescu praised his partner for his effort down the stretch.

“Obviously Gabe wasn’t feeling his best this week, and he just kept hanging in there, kept competing as hard as he can. I’m super excited to win this one with him. We won some titles together a few years back, and it’s nice to get another gold medal,” he mentioned.

After this week’s run, Tardio will overtake Ben Johns for the top spot in the PPA Tour men’s doubles rankings as the 20-year-old hits yet another milestone in his career.

In the bronze medal match, No. 4 seeds Eric Oncins/Dylan Frazier defeated No. 3 seeds Federico Staksrud/CJ Klinger by a 10-12, 11-6, 11-8 score line.