Pumpkin Weighing 2,749 Pounds Wins California Contest, Sets World Record 

A Michael Jordan bear doll sits on Travis Gienger's pumpkin dubbed "Michael Jordan" before it is weighed during the 50th annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A Michael Jordan bear doll sits on Travis Gienger's pumpkin dubbed "Michael Jordan" before it is weighed during the 50th annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
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Pumpkin Weighing 2,749 Pounds Wins California Contest, Sets World Record 

A Michael Jordan bear doll sits on Travis Gienger's pumpkin dubbed "Michael Jordan" before it is weighed during the 50th annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A Michael Jordan bear doll sits on Travis Gienger's pumpkin dubbed "Michael Jordan" before it is weighed during the 50th annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A Minnesota horticulture teacher set a world record in California on Monday for the heaviest pumpkin after growing a giant jack-o'-lantern gourd weighing 2,749 pounds (1,247 kilograms).

Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota, won the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, with an enormous, lumpy, orange pumpkin that could produce at least 687 pies.

“I was not expecting that. It was quite the feeling,” said Gienger, 43, who has been growing pumpkins for nearly 30 years and last year set a new US record for growing a giant gourd.

The previous world record for heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who produced a 2,702-pound (1,226-kilogram) squash in 2021, according to Guinness World Records.

Gienger grows his gourds in the pumpkin patch in his backyard. He said this year he decided to give his plants extra care, watering them up to 12 times a day and feeding and fertilizing them a bit more than usual.

Gienger, a landscape and horticulture teacher at Anoka Technical College, has been growing pumpkins since he was a teenager, inspired by his father who also grew them. He first competed in Half Moon Bay's annual weigh-off in 2020 and has won three of the city's last four giant pumpkin contests.

“I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people's faces and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town," he said.

The pumpkin champ won a $30,000 prize for growing the biggest pumpkin and setting a world record.

The gargantuan pumpkin will be on display in Half Moon Bay along with the three runner-ups through next weekend when visitors to the city's Art and Pumpkin Festival will be able to take photos with Gienger and the enormous gourd.



16 Teams Compete in ‘Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’ Women's Tournament in Riyadh

This year’s edition is the largest in the tournament’s history, featuring 16 teams. (SPA)
This year’s edition is the largest in the tournament’s history, featuring 16 teams. (SPA)
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16 Teams Compete in ‘Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’ Women's Tournament in Riyadh

This year’s edition is the largest in the tournament’s history, featuring 16 teams. (SPA)
This year’s edition is the largest in the tournament’s history, featuring 16 teams. (SPA)

The second week of the Esports World Cup 2025 kicked off in Riyadh on Tuesday featuring the “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” Women’s Invitational (MWI). The tournament is a key event on the competition’s calendar, bringing together top global mobile gaming stars for the second consecutive year, reported the Saudi Press Agency.

Since its release in 2016, “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” has established itself as one of the world’s leading esports titles, thanks to its widely followed international and regional tournaments. With over 110 million monthly active users, it has become one of the most popular mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games globally.

This year’s edition is the largest in the tournament’s history, featuring 16 teams compared to 12 last year, with qualifiers held across 57 regions worldwide, up from 46 regions in the previous edition.

The current edition features 16 teams representing 13 regions from around the world. The participating teams are Team Vitality, ONIC Pertiwi, Natus Vincere PH, Team Liquid, Natus Vincere MY, SFU Serendipity, Falcons Vega MENA, DreamMax Girls, Rising Rage, WAOW GG Esports, Virtus.pro FE, FUT Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, Twisted Minds Orchid, Tidal Legends Gaming, and Terror Queens.

The teams will compete for a total prize pool of $500,000, with an additional $50,000 awarded to the best player. The tournament also offers 3,350 points toward the Club Championship race in the Esports World Cup 2025.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt are prominently represented by Twisted Minds Orchid and Falcons Vega MENA, both aiming for their first title in the tournament and carrying the hopes of their supporters for a historic achievement.

Twisted Minds Orchid features Saudi players “Lyrx,” “Lunar,” and “Livin,” while Falcons Vega MENA competes with an all-Egyptian lineup of “Velvet,” “Sunlight,” “Yui,” “Names,” and “Fvvn.”