Ryan Pilat Appears to Extend 3x3 in Madison Final, Then Loses 3-2
After taking a 2-0 lead, Pilat appeared to drop Set 3 before Zeke Mackay won the final two sets of the head-to-head final.
Ryan Pilat lost the 3x3 final at 3x3 in Madison 2026 after taking a 2-0 lead over Zeke Mackay in the best-of-five head-to-head format.
Pilat entered the head-to-head stage after qualifying second in the third round with a 5.78 average, behind Luke Garrett’s 5.37. Mackay qualified fourth with a 6.53 average.
In the final, Pilat won the first two sets before appearing to intentionally drop Set 3. Mackay then won the next two sets to take the match 3-2 and win the competition.
After the win, Mackay said on the WCA stream that he was “exhausted.” He also said he wanted to speak with Pilat after the match, noting that Pilat may not have realized how quickly the match could snowball once Mackay got back into it.
The result comes one week after Pilat discussed intentionally extending a previous head-to-head match at DFW Cubing Spring 2026 in an interview with Speedcuber’s Digest. In that interview, Pilat referenced WCA Regulation 2k6, which allows a Delegate to disqualify a competitor for intentionally poor results, and said he did not believe his actions violated the current head-to-head rules.
At 3x3 in Madison, the extended match left the door open for Mackay, who completed the comeback in the final two sets.
Karma? 👀🙈