~ We are only in the second day of The World Games Chengdu 2025, but the hustle and bustle of the gigantic event was on full show across the city.
"VAN" (Sports Desk - 09.08.2025) :: 23 medal finals took place in eight sports, and another nine sports featured in preliminary rounds, matches and heats.
Life Saving was where a bunch of the magic happened as four world records were broken in the pool.
Archery
Following the first two rounds of individual eliminations in the morning, the compound mixed team medal matches occurred in the afternoon at the hot and humid outdoors of Qinglong Lake Park.
USA, a prolific compound nation failed to podium in the event at home in The World Games Birmingham 2022, but Alexis Ruiz and Curtis Broadnax defeated the Republic of Korea 157-155 to take the bronze medal.
Mexico were favourites heading into the gold medal match but it was Denmark's day as the women archer on the team Sofie Louise Dam Marcussen is still in her maiden international year whilst teammate Matthias Fullerton and opponents Sebastian Garcia and Becerra seasoned archers.
DanceSport
Marius Balan and Khrystyna Moshenska— the German four‑time World Champions —danced to gold in Chengdu with a majestic 195.71, their long standing European and global dominance displayed once again.
France’s Elena Salikhova and Charles‑Guillaume Schmitt, off the back of the 2024 GrandSlam Latin title in Shanghai, claimed silver at 194.00.
Spain’s duo Diandra‑Aniela Illes and Guillem Pascual Iniesta – also GrandSlam finalists in 2024-25, took bronze with 188.46 in a late evening finish at Chengbei Gymnasium.
Gymnastics
In the Acrobatic Gymnastics’ Women’s Pairs final, Belgian duo Maysae Bouhouch and Silke Macharis soared to gold with an elegant 28.620.
Anhelina Cherniavska and Ruzanna Vecheruk took silver (28.270) for Ukraine, while Portugal’s Beatriz Carneiro and Ines Faria earned bronze (27.770),
Before that, it was the Men’s Synchronised final on the Trampoline apparatus which saw Gabriel Albuquerque and Lucas Santos leap to gold with a dazzling 31.790 – a massive score for Portugal.
The Dutch duo of Rikkert Veldhuizen and Jordy Mol could only conjure up 15.810 in the gold medal match, whilst Caio Lauxtermann and Fabian Vogel of Germany’s routine thrashed France by over 46 points to get bronze (52.450).
Karate
Karate action at the Jianyang Cultural and Sports Centre Gymnasium lasted all day - from 10:00 to 20:20 - and it saw Hong Kong China’s Lau Mo Sheung Grace, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist, top the Women’s Kata podium with a commanding gold over Japan’s Maho Ono in Chengdu at 45.3 to 43.6 points.
Japan’s Kakeru Nishiyama, edged Ariel Torres in a bout 44.4 to 43.6 in the Men’s Kata meaning both Kata finals were repeat results of the Karate 1-Premier League Rabat Finale in June.
World medallist Sara Bahmanyar claimed the Women’s 50 kg Kumite gold, as Eray Samdan and Said Oubaya stormed to titles in the men’s 60kg and 67kg divisions.
Germany’s Mia Bitsch impressed in the Women’s 55 kg class final against Anzhelika Terliuga, whilst Italian Alessio Ghinami (Men’s Kata), and Abdel Rahman Tayel Hayel Almasatfa of Jordan (Men’s Kumite 67kg) took home two of the six bronzes up for grabs.
Life Saving
Records tumbled in the quaking waves at the Chengdu Sport University Sancha Lake Campus Natatorium pool, where Nina Holt blazed to a world-best 1:03.69 in the Women’s 100m Rescue Medley in the first of the day.
Poland’s Kacper Majchrzak followed suit, rewriting the men’s record books with a searing 57.64 finish in the same event.
Germany’s women also made their mark in the 4x50 Pool Life Saver discipline – which included Holt again, totalling her medal tally from The World Games to six out of six events, a 100 per cent podium return - clocking a blistering 1:51.07 to smash the world mark by over two seconds.
Italy’s men answered in kind, roaring to a new global standard of 1:39.12 whilst the country picked up three of the four golds in the Women's 100m Manikin Carry with Fins Final (Lucrezia Fabbretti), and then the Men’s (Francesco Ippolito) and Women’s 100m Manikin Carry with Fins Final – an ecstatic Fabbretti getting her second of the day. Tom Durager of France denied the Italian afternoon sweep by claiming the Men’s 100m Manikin Carry with Fins gold.
Orienteering
Switzerland’s Riccardo Rancan blazed through the forested slopes of Chengdu’s Eastern New Area, seizing the Men’s Middle Distance gold in 45:22 with precision on the map.
Italian Francesco Mariani joined him on the podium, chased closely by Norway’s Vegard Jarvis Westergård in a dramatic finish for silver and bronze with only 00.05 seconds separating them.
In the women’s race, Swiss star Simona Aebersold carved her way across technical course to win gold in a commanding 40:08, three minutes before silver medallist Tereza Smelíková of Czechia (43.52).
Sweden’s Alva Sonesson completed the podium in third with world-class navigation on show.
Wushu
In a breath‑stealing display, Iran's Shahin Banitalebi edged gold in Men’s Nanquan–Nangun with 19.466, besting Brunei’s Roslan Mohammad Adi Salihin Bin by a mere 0.010 points, while Chinese Taipei’s Liu Chang Min took bronze.
It is also worth mentioning that Salihin Bin is Brunei’s third athlete to ever participate at The World Games – all in Wushu- and his silver is the country’s third in their entire history from the event (one gold, two silvers).
China’s Lu Zhuoling claimed Women’s Taijiquan–Taijijian gold with a graceful 19.522—adding to her reputation as a formidable Taiji artist on the international stage and in front of vociferous home support at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Centre Gymnasium.
Singapore’s Law Zeanne slipped into silver at 19.430, with Chin Sy Xuan Sydney from neighboring Malaysia clinch bronze.
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