Chinese badminton ace Shi Yuqi wins second World Tour Finals title

HANGZHOU – China’s Shi Yuqi capped a stellar season with victory at the BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Tour Finals on Dec 15, after defeating Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 21-18, 21-14 in the men’s singles title decider.

Showing just why he was named the BWF Male Player of the Year just days earlier, he emerged victorious at the prestigious season-ending tournament to add to his four other BWF titles and Thomas Cup victory with China in 2024.

It was Shi’s second World Tour Finals victory, adding to his 2018 triumph, also in China.

“Playing at home makes me very happy,” said the 28-year-old, who threw his sweat-drenched shirt into the ecstatic crowd at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre after winning. “These people are very passionate and supportive.”

The world No. 1, who earned US$200,000 (S$270,000) in prize money, added: “For my second World Tour Finals title, I just see it as a normal tournament. I played at my best to show my value on court. I hope I’ve made everyone happy.”

Shi had ended Dane Viktor Axelsen’s long reign as the men’s top-ranked player in June.

Axelsen, who beat Shi in the 2023 final, was not in China to defend his title. The two-time Olympic champion had pulled out before the competition, citing an injury.

Earlier, Chinese fans also had much to celebrate as women’s world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi defeated her compatriot Han Yue 19-21, 21-19, 21-11. In the process, the 24-year-old became China’s first women’s singles champion of this competition since Chen Yufei in 2019.

Wang, who beat world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea in the semi-finals, finished the season with six individual titles, as well as the Uber Cup.

In the mixed doubles, China again emerged victorious when Paris Olympic gold medallists and world No. 3 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong defeated Malaysia’s eighth-ranked Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei 21-18, 14-21, 21-17 to bag US$210,000 in prize money.

It was a triumphant farewell to badminton for the 27-year-old Zheng, who had announced his intention to retire from the sport after the tournament to spend more time with his family.

He said: “It is really the perfect ending for us because, as you all know, this is my last international tournament.

“I remember during the group stage, we were really tired, but I remember someone (from the crowd) shouted that he wants to see us play a few more matches. Because of this and all the support, we managed to win.”

This spells the end of a successful seven-year partnership for the Chinese pair, who had spent 241 weeks as the world No. 1 and amassed multiple titles, including the world championships (2018, 2019, 2022), Asian Games (2018, 2023) and Asian championships (2022).

In the men’s doubles final, Denmark’s world No. 3 Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen prevailed with a 21-17, 17-21, 21-11 victory over Malaysia’s seventh-ranked Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin, both 27.

With their historic victory, the duo not only became the first Danes to win the men’s doubles title at the World Tour Finals, but they will also become the first men’s pair from their country to attain the world No. 1 spot since Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen topped the rankings in 2017.

“This is one of the biggest achievements of our careers. We are getting old but we’re not getting that old yet,” said Astrup, 32.

Rasmussen, 35, added: “I don’t know if we’ve used all our powers this week. There’s definitely been some tough matches. This is an adrenaline kick of a lifetime.

“So many things go into this victory, being the No. 1 in the world, beating guys that are almost 10 years younger but performing at the highest level. So a lot of respect for our own performance but also for our opponents.”

The women’s doubles crown was won by South Korea’s world No. 2 Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee, who triumphed over fourth-ranked Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan 21-19, 21-14.