Willingdon Sports Club in Mumbai hosted the 2025 World Tour Finals last weekend and we have two new champions. Congratulations Pauline Cavé and Leon Griffiths!
Women’s World Tour Finals
Pauline was placed in Group B with Stine Jacobsen and Stephanie Chung. The Frenchwoman won both her matches, whilst Jacobsen defeated Chung to qualify for the semi finals.
Meanwhile in Group A, Holly Ranson defeated Anna-Klara Ahlmer and Adeline Kilchenmann to qualify in first place. Ahlmer defeated Kilchenmann to finish second.
Semi Finals: Ranson vs. Jacobsen, Cavé vs. Ahlmer
Holly Ranson’s squash has been improving and she even managed an 11-10 win against Malte Thyregod in the mixed doubles. She defeated Stine Jacobsen 21-11 in squash in the semi final, but it wasn’t enough – the Dane won the other three sports to win through to the final.
Unfortunately, Anna-Klara Ahlmer was forced to withdraw from her semi final after the badminton, allowing Pauline Cavé to rest up ahead of the final.
The final started neck and neck, with Pauline winning the table tennis, before Stine won the badminton comfortably, giving the Dane an 8-point lead halfway through the match. But with the Frenchwoman’s best sports to come, would it be enough?
Pauline played some excellent squash to win 21-8, which gave her a target of 19 points in tennis to win the title. She carried the strong momentum all the way through tennis and won 19-10 and becomes the first Frenchwoman to win the World Tour Finals.
“Definitely really happy to have won the World Tour Finals, especially because it gathers the best players of the world, so it means a lot!” Pauline explained. But the World Number 1 is still looking to improve.
“I know I can even do better in the 4, so I’m working on it! Especially badminton, with Julien [Castel] who I force to train with me haha, and squash with my coach!”
Results: Women’s Position 1-4
Men’s World Tour Finals
Leon Griffiths (1st) and Bastian Böhm (2nd) qualified for the semi finals, after defeating Leon Sam and Julien Castel.
Meanwhile it was absolute chaos in Group B! Firstly, Joerg Kanonenberg defeated Koen Hageraats. In round 2, Malte Thyregod defeated Joerg Kanonenberg. Lastly, Koen defeated Malte, which left everyone scrambling for their calculators to find out who had actually qualified.
Despite what it says in the Group B draw, Malte qualified in second place ahead of Joerg (by just two points!) based on the results only against the three players with two wins. Results against Nicolas Lenggenhager were excluded from the calculations.
Semi finals: Griffiths vs. Thyregod, Hageraats vs. Böhm
The first two sports were shared between Leon Griffiths and Malte Thyregod, but not as expected – Malte won the table tennis and Leon the badminton! The Dane fought hard in the squash and even led 8-7, before the World Number 1 took control of the match, finishing 21-11 and then 15-2 in tennis.
Koen Hageraats did not leave anything to chance against Bastian Böhm, winning by a mammoth 42 points.
So it was 2025 Men’s Doubles Champions, Leon Griffiths and Koen Hageraats, playing against each other in the final. Commentator Duncan Stahl suggested that for the Dutchman to win, he’d need to win more points in badminton than Leon would in table tennis, somehow win the squash and give himself a target of about 15 points in tennis.
The script was on track after two sports. Koen won 21-4 in table tennis, before snagging 8 in badminton. He kept the squash tight, but the Brit won 21-18, meaning whoever won tennis would win the World Tour Finals.
The tennis was never in doubt, as Leon cruised to a 21-10 victory. This win caps off a remarkable year for the World Number 1.
Leon Griffiths has won 14 elite World Tour titles across all categories in 2025, including:
- Men’s Singles World Championships
- Men’s Doubles World Championships, with Koen Hageraats
- Mixed Doubles World Championships, with Amke Fischer
- World Team Championships, with Great Britain
and now, the World Tour Finals.
Results: Men’s Position 1-4
It wasn’t just about the World Tour Finals. The Indian Open SWT was also played from Friday to Sunday.
Catch up on the action from Day 1 and Day 2.
Cassier wins Men’s A Singles
Jonathan Cassier has become the third French man to win an elite singles World Tour title, after defeating Australian Leigh Sands by 8 points in the final.
“Very happy to have been part of this beautiful experience, in this incredible city and country that I did not know,” Cassier said on his facebook page. “And delighted to have discovered the beautiful site that is Willingdon Sports Club, where we were made very welcome over the weekend.”
(NB: The above quote has been translated from French)
Guidi Weijel from the Netherlands defeated American Patrick Moran to claim the bronze medal, closing out with an impressive 21-3 tennis set to win by 8 points.
Arolkar wins Women’s A Singles on her international debut
Riya Arolkar won the Women’s A Singles title in ruthless fashion. The Indian not only won all of her matches before tennis, but she gave away just one point in badminton across her three matches!
Last year’s C Grade champion, Charvi Singh, won the silver medal. She also won the squash in the final – the only set Arolkar lost in the singles.
Check out the results of the elite draws: Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles | Mixed Doubles
