BRONZE Matches :
Marta Dominguez (Esp) 3-0 HoTze Lok (Hkg) 12-10, 11-5, 11-2 (41m)
Miguel Rodriguez (Col) 3-1 Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (75m)
GOLD Matches :
[1] Satomi Watanabe (Jpn) 3-0 [4] Marie Stephan (Fra) 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (32m)
[1] Victor Crouin (Fra) v [6] Balazs Farkas (Hun) 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (32m)3-0
Top seeds Watanabe and Crouin claim World Games Gold in Chengdu
Japan’s Satomi Watanabe and France’s Victor Crouin have been crowned champions at The World Games 2025 after recording a pair of commanding wins in the Gold Medal Matches in Chengdu, China.
Those wins, with Watanabe defeating France’s Marie Stéphan and Crouin overcoming Hungary’s Balazs Farkas, with Watanabe becoming the first ever Japanese winner of the event and Crouin becoming the first man to the defend the title.
Meanwhile, in the Bronze Medal Matches, Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez won his third bronze medal at The World Games by coming from behind to defeat Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann and Spain’s Marta Dominguez breezed past Hong Kong’s Ho Tze Lok.
Women’s Semis: Watch Replays
[1] Satomi Watanabe (Jpn) 3-0 [5] Marta Dominguez (Esp) 11-6, 11-2, 11-7 (30m
[4] Marie Stephan (Fra) 3-2 [2] Ho Tze Lok (Hkg) 9-11, 1-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 (62m)
Men’s Semis : Watch Replays
[1] Victor Crouin (Fra) 3-2 [3] Miguel Rodriguez (Col) 10-12, 11-6, 5-11, 11-3, 11-8 (91m)
[6] Balazs Farkas (Hun) 3-0 [2] Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) 11-7, 11-7, 11-1 (36m)
Semis : Top seeds Watanabe and Crouin win as Farkas and Stephan take out the second seeds …
Top seeds Satomi Watanabe and Victor Crouin made it through to the finals in contrasting fashion as Marie Stephan and Balazs Farkas ousted the second seeds in equally contrasting matches.
Watanabe eased past Marta Dominguez in straight games while Stephan came from two games down to upset Ho Tze Lok. Crouin was twice behind and 4-7 down in the fifth before seeing off Miguel Rodriguez while Farkas recorded a fourth-consecutive straight-games win to take out Dimitri Steinmann.
Schedule, Streaming, Results on theWorldGames.org
Day THREE : Dominguez and Farkas continue runs into the semis
Spain’s Marta Domingues and Hungary’s Balazs Farkas continued their winning runs to claim unexpected places in the semi-finals in Chengdu.
Fifth seed Domingues overcame third seed Lee Ka Yi in a five game thriller, setting up a semi-final with top seed Satomi Watanabe, while second and fourth seeds Ho Tze Lok and Marie Stephan eased through to the other women’s semi-final.
For Domingues, Farkas and Watanabe the wins mark the first World Games semi-final spots fot their respective countries.
Balazs’ win over Viktor Brytus means he faces second seed Dimitri Steinmann for a place in the final, with top seed and defending champion Victor Crouin coming up gainst Miguel Rodriguez after both recorded straight game wins.
Day TWO : Byrtus and Beinhard gatecrash the quarter-finals in Chengdu
Czechia’s unseeded Viktor Byrtus kept his winning run going as he overcame Dewald Van Niekerk to join the remaining seven seeds in the men’s quarter-finals – although second and third seeds Dimitri Steinmann and Miguel Rodriguez both needed all five games to secure their last eight spots.
In the women’s draw Saskia Beinhard is also in the mix with seven seeds after the German #1 came from two games down to deny yesterday’s upset hero Franka Vidovic. Seventh seeded Egyptian Habiba Hani also had to fight back from two games down to reach the quarters.
Top seeds Victor Crouin and Satomi Watanabe both won in four games.
Day ONE : Byrtus downs Kandra as Squash begins in Changdu
The squash competitions at The World Games began with an big shock as fourth seed Raphael Kandra of Germany crashed out in straight games to Viktor Byrtus of Czechia.
Kandra wasn’t the only seeded player to exit prematurely, with Ukrainian eighth seed Alina Bushma another early casualty as she fell to Croatia’s Franka Vidovic after a five-game battle.
In other surprising results Josue Enriquez of Guatemala defeated Colombia’s Ronald Palomino in straight games, and in the women’s event Hungary’s Hannah Chukwu beat Austria’s Jacqueline Peychär while France’s Kara Lincou came from a game down to beat Colombia’s Lucia Bautista.
In one of the matches of the day Guatemala’s Alejandro Enriquez fought back from two games down to beat Czechia’s Jakub Solnicky and set up a round two match with Swiss eighth seed Yannick Wilhelmi.
Preview :
Squash is set to make its first Olympic appearance in 2028, but has been a feature of the World Games – a quadrennial event for sports not featuring in the Olympics – since 1997, and is making its 7th appearance in this year’s Games.
This year’s Games take place in Chengdu, China, with the 32-player squash draws running from 8th to 12th August at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Centre, which recently hosted the Summer FISU World University Games in 2023.
In the men’s draw France’s Victor Crouin is the top seed and defending champion, with Swiss Dimitri Steinmann, Colombian Miguel Rodriguez and German Raphael Kandra completing the top four seeds.
Top seed in the women’s draw is Japan’s Satomi Watanabe, with Hong Kong’s Ho Tze Lok and Lee Ka Yi and France’s Marie Stephan making the top four.
