World Tour Finals: 2016 Rewind

9 June 2023

The 2022-23 CIB PSA World Tour Finals are just around the corner and to whet your appetite we’re sending you back to Burj Park in Dubai for the 2016 event which saw France’s Gregory Gaultier and England’s Laura Massaro capture the titles.

Men’s Pool A

Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) – Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) – Miguel Rodriguez (COL) – Nick Matthew (ENG)

Men’s Pool B

Gregory Gaultier (FRA) – Simon Rosner (GER) – Omar Mosaad (EGY) – Cameron Pilley (AUS)

Women’s Pool A

Laura Massaro (ENG) – Nicol David (MAS) – Amanda Sobhy (USA) – Nouran Gohar (EGY)

Women’s Pool B

Nour El Sherbini (EGY) – Raneem El Welily (EGY) – Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) – Camille Serme (FRA)

Day One

Day one in the men’s event saw two upsets take place as Australia’s Cameron Pilley claimed a 2-1 win over World No.4 Omar Mosaad to secure early points on the board. Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez shocked England No.1 Nick Matthew, also 2-1, to make Pool A very interesting. Top seeds Gregory Gaultier and Mohamed ElShorbagy recorded comfortable wins over Simon Rosner and Matheiu Castagnet to move to the top of their respective groups.

The women’s first round saw four 2-0 wins across both pools for Laura Massaro and Nicol David in Pool A along with wins for Raneen El Welily and Camille Serme.

Day Two

Both Gregory Gaultier and Mohamed ElShorbagy secured places in the semi-finals with a match to spare as they beat Cameron Pilley and Miguel Rodriguez in straight games. European duo Mathieu Castagnet and Simon Rosner kept their event hopes alive with wins over Nick Matthew and Omar Mosaad.

Women’s top seed Raneem El Welily booked her place in the final four after a tight win over France’s Camille Serme. She would be joined by Laura Massaro after the England No.1 won a quality battle with former champion Nicol David.

Nour El Sherbini claimed her first win of the tournament as she recorded a straight games win over compatriot Omneya Abdel Kawy, whilst Amanda Sobhy kept her event alive with a win over Nouran Gohar, winning 2-1.

Day Three

It was Colombian Miguel Rodriguez who clinched the final semi-final spot from Pool A on day three as he defeated Mathieu Castagnet 2-0 to make the final four. Australia’s Cameron Pilley completed the men’s semi-final line-up as he overcame Simon Rosner in straight games also.

With Massaro and El Welily already qualified, two semi-final spots remained in the women’s event, with three players in contention. A straight games win for Nour El Sherbini over Camille Serme moved her into the final four. She was then joined by Malaysia’s Nicol David, who beat Nouran Gohar 2-0.

Semi-Finals

Top seed and World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy had lost a couple of times to Cameron Pilley throughout the years and didn’t look to be physically at 100% as he lost again to the Australian, ensuring a final in his first World Series Finals appearance for Pilley.

France’s Gregory Gaultier was in complete control as he took on Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez for a spot in a fifth final at the World Tour Finals. The ‘French General’ moved Rodriguez into all four corners, picking him off around the middle with devastating attacks.

Raneem El Welily booked a place in her first final at the event as she beat Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion Nicol David in a quality three-game encounter.

In a repeat of the most recent World Championships final, Laura Massaro was seeking revenge from the defeat as she took on Nour El Sherbini to join El Welily in the final. Massaro needed just two games to compete the win, prevailing 12-10, 11-6 in 31 minutes.

Finals

Gregory Gaultier had only lost twice to Cameron Pilley in the previous 15 times that the pair had met on the PSA World Tour as the two stepped onto court again to compete for the title. A determined Frenchman took the opening two games in fine style before a resurrection from Pilley saw him take the third game. Gaultier returned to form in the fourth game to close it out 11-6 and take the title.

The women’s final was an absolute epic between Raneem ElWelily and Laura Massaro. The Egyptian twice took the lead at 1-0 and 2-1 before being pegged back by Massaro, who then moved ahead in the fifth game to take it 11-5 and claim the World Series Finals title for the first time in her career.