An Dethroned; Shi Survives Scare

Top seed An Se Young’s defence of her world title was left in shreds as she capitulated to nerves and familiar rival Chen Yu Fei in the semifinals of the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2025.

It was an uncharacteristically subdued performance by the Olympic and world champion, as she struggled with every aspect of her game and allowed Chen the opportunities to break through her famed defence. Not even an injury scare for Chen – she twisted her right ankle early in the second game – could help An turn the tide, and the Chinese came away a comfortable winner at 21-15 21-17.

The Korean, on the verge of tears after match, admitted that she was overcome by fear.

“To be honest, I felt like I played stupidly, I was afraid of making mistakes. My preparation for the World Championship was very good. I did my best before the competition, but I felt like I didn’t show my abilities. I feel really sad right now. I lost my way from the beginning. I couldn’t find a way to make the rallies, to control the match… if I have to sum up, my clears, my smashes, my timing… everything was bad… so I guess I lost everything at the same time.”

China in Five Finals

China had a perfect semifinals day, even if they teetered on the brink of a massive upset with Shi Yu Qi facing two match points against Victor Lai.

The Canadian, playing on such a big stage for the first time, was sublime and matched Shi in every department, and was a point away from one of the biggest upsets in World Championships history at 20-18 in the second game. Shi let fall a clear that landed long by centimetres; in the next point he conjured an unplayable net shot.

Yet, Lai never let go in the third game and pushed Shi all the way. The top seed was breathing heavily when he came off court, having been involved in three draining matches on his way to the final.

With Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin and Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning having earlier taken their spots on Sunday, it was left to youngsters Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi to ensure Chinese representation in all five finals. This they deal in remarkably dominant fashion over Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, running away with a 9-0 lead in the third that the Indians could never pull back.

Super Saturday for Malaysia

Malaysia couldn’t have asked for a better semifinals day, with Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan and Cheng Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei making the finals in dominant fashion.

Both pairs are in the reckoning for a first ever title for their country in their respective categories.

Tan/Muralitharan took their time to get going, but once they found their rhythm, the Japanese found them hard to break through. With the Malaysians’ defence getting increasingly hard to break, the Japanese started to struggle, with Matsuyama in particular making a succession of errors.

“It’s unbelievable that we are here today, because of what we went through the last one or two weeks,” said Muralitharan. “It wasn’t easy, it was a really a bumpy ride to be honest. What we went through only both of us know, and also our coaches, but thankful that everyone around me didn’t give up on the us. So we’re definitely very grateful and thankful for that. And to be here today, words cannot describe how happy we are, but we still want to keep ourselves grounded, because there’s still one more match to go.”

It was then their mixed doubles compatriots’ turn to follow them into the finals. In a rather nervy final against Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue and a full-house crowd, Chen and Toh seized the initiative and stayed ahead of the French pair through the 53-minute contest, 21-18 21-16.

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