The ultimate world final between the eternal rivals: Ale-Chingo vs Agus-Arturo

Some time ago, people would have called it “the mother of all matches”. And even if that phrase has gone out of fashion, its real meaning perfectly fits this FIP World Cup Pairs final, which simply couldn’t be better. The world number ones, Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia, face their closest and fiercest rivals, world number twos Ale Galán and Fede Chingotto, fighting for the world throne in Kuwait. The Duellists, so to speak, like in Ridley Scott’s famous film, who never stop clashing in an endless exchange of thrilling emotions. And we’ve certainly had our share of those over the past two years: 25 encounters, with a 17–8 record in favour of Coello and Tapia between 2024 and 2025, and a season score of 7–3. The last victory for Ale and Fede came in the final on October 12th at the P1 in Milan, while Coello and Tapia’s most recent win was a week earlier, on October 5th in Rotterdam. The Duellists, indeed — what more could you ask from the most important final on the planet?

WHAT A MATCH FROM CHINGO AND GALÁN In the semifinal against Paquito Navarro and Jon Sanz, the match was really tight only in the first set, when in the opening games came the break (by Galán and “Chingo”) and the counter-break, before closing the set 6–4. In the second, Chingotto and Galán went up 5–1 and then finished it 6–2, also taking advantage of a slight drop from Paquito and Jon, who nonetheless played a brilliant World Cup.

READY TO GIVE IT ALL Ahead of Sunday’s final – scheduled not before 7 p.m. local time – Chingotto smiles, but that smile is a real challenge: “We’re ready to give everything. The result is a consequence of our work. We’re hungry to win our eighth title and fully focused on tomorrow’s final.” Next to him, Ale Galán anticipates the question and steps up alongside his partner: “The goal is to win. Always. And tomorrow too, of course.” Short, concise, but crystal clear. The gap has narrowed, not so much in the win–loss numbers, but in the growing balance this season against the world number ones: “It’s true, we’ve definitely improved. This year we’ve won more tournaments and even when the results weren’t going our way, we felt our level was higher. Last year they often beat us more clearly; this year, most matches have been very tight.” And the crowd at the BNK Central Court in Arena Kuwait couldn’t ask for anything more, for this final of the first, historic FIP World Cup Pairs.