Stephanie Chung from the USA has 11 elite silver medals (1 in Women’s Singles, 7 in Women’s Doubles & 3 in Mixed Doubles). Today was the first time she has collected an elite gold medal!
Teaming up with local Crystal Ho Suet Ying, the pair had a close win on Friday night against Joyce Chan & Elif Wong, before securing the gold with a comprehensive win over Shiu Wai Pamela Lee & Wan Yin Lui on Saturday afternoon.
It is Crystal’s 2nd elite World Tour title after she won the All Genders Mixed at the 2024 Eurogames LGBTIQ+ with Austrian Stefan Urban.
Steph didn’t seem too worried about her many unsuccessful World Tour finals, stating, “Oh wow I didn’t even know that,” when made aware of her statistics.
Women’s Singles: Rematch of 2024 final
Joyce Chan and Stephanie Chung are both undefeated in their two singles matches on Saturday, therefore it is effectively a final when they meet each other at 9:30 AM.
Joyce has won the last three times they met, but could Steph carry the momentum from her first ever elite title and win the singles too?
Men’s Doubles: First World Tour title for Fung & Ho
Unlike Steph, who has played in many World Tour finals, it was an inexperienced group who challenged for the Men’s Doubles title.
- Tsz Cheong Fung (Nelson), who was playing his first World Tour final
- Tze Ho Ho (Hugo), who had played just one
- Grant Sterman, who is making his international debut this weekend
- Patrick Moran, who has played several World Tour finals, but many in the B Grade or within the USA. This weekend was the American’s first elite World Tour finals outside his home country
All four sets of the match were close, although it wasn’t heading that way in the squash. “Nelson got me [a lead of] 11-1 in squash, but Grant [is] really good … 28 points in squash really tough,” Hugo recalled.
Reflecting on his first title, Hugo said, “It was awesome, didn’t expected [sic] especially round 1 was a gummiarm haha.”
Bridge Yan Kiu Lam & Bryan Lim won the bronze medal playoff against Steven Cheng & Duncan Stahl.
Two seeds fall in Men’s Singles
Fourth seed, Stephane Quiquempois survived a first round scare from local Chung Him Samuel Li. After losing table tennis, the Frenchman came back in the middle two sports and needed 15 in the tennis. Samuel had the opportunity to force a Gummiarm at 20-14, before Stephane won the final point of the match.
There were two upsets in the quarter finals. Last year’s finalist, Bryan Leung has won through to the semi finals, defeating Patrick Moran. A 21-3 win in the badminton was key to his victory. Bryan will take on fourth seed Stephane Quiquempois in the semi final.
Tze Ho Ho has carried the momentum from his Men’s Doubles title, to take out second seed Duncan Stahl in the singles. Duncan was unable to match the Hong Kong player on the squash court, going down 2-21. Hugo will face third seed Léon Mamié in the semi final.
For full scores, follow the draws on Tournament Software.
