30th November, Hong Kong, China: Singles gold medalist, Essi Pakarinen and Peppi Konsteri gave Finland their third gold medal of the HKGX 2025 IBF World Championships with victory in the Women's Doubles final while Mihal-Alin Dragnia and Mate Balazs-Becsi won Romania's first-ever gold in the Men's Doubles final.

Pakarinen and Konsteri edged the second Singapore pair of Cherie Tan and Daphne Tan, 181-177 in thefirst match of the best-of-3 final for a 1-0 lead. The Finns were equally dominating, winning the second match, 230-213 to win Finland's third gold medal of the championships thus far.

The Finnish pair had earlier eliminated another Singapore pair of Shayna Ng and New Hui Fen, 2-0 (230-203, 206-201) in the semi-finals. Cherie and Daphne ousted top-seed American pair, Jillian Martin and Julia Bond, 2-1 in the other semis to advance to the final match. USA and Singapore took home the bronze medal.

In the Round 2 Matchplay finals, Ng and New tied with Sweden's Hanna Engberg and Nora Johansson on 12 points a piece in Group A and had to go into a one-game roll-off to break the tie. Singapore thrashed Sweden 277-213 to seal their place in the semi-finals as winner of the group.

Pakarinen and Konsteri won all their five matches in Group B and to book their spot in the semi-finals with all 15 points. The third Malaysian pair of Gillian Lim and Nora Lyana Nastasia and another Swedish pair finished second with 9 points each.

Martin and Bond also won all their five matches to top Group C with 15 points and advanced to the semis while the silver medalist, Cherie and Daphne had to beat France in another one-game tie-breaker in Group D with 237(+58) - 237 (+24) for their semi-finals spot.

Competition will shift to the Trios event starting tomorrow for the men and women. The top 16 men and women trios will make the cut for the Round 2 Matchplay, divided in two groups each. The top 2 at the end of the Round 2 will qualify for the semi-finals, which will take place at Queen Elizabeth Stadium on December 5.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong, China.

Related stories:
Doubles ends with Malaysia in the lead
Singapore duo tops Doubles qualifying round
Finland sweeps Singles gold
Dane leads Women's Singles qualifying
Swede tops Singles qualifying in the lead
Swede tops Singles qualifying in the lead
IBF President declares championships open
Thirty-one countries set for World Championships
Hong Kong China to host HKGX 2025 IBF World Championship