Shi, Wang one step away from title defense at BWF World Tour Finals
HANGZHOU, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Home favorites Shi Yuqi and Wang Zhiyi moved within one victory of defending their titles after cruising into the finals at the Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals on Saturday.
Both singles shuttlers, who had swept their group matches, carried their dominant form into the semifinals.
Shi faced Kunlavut Vitidsarn in a rematch of their 2025 World Championships final, where Shi triumphed. He continued his recent dominance over the Thai shuttler with a commanding 21-16, 21-13 victory.
Shi will meet France's Christo Popov, the tournament's surprise package who remains unbeaten after ousting Japan's Kodai Naraoka 21-19, 21-8.
"Popov is in great form, young and physically strong. It will be a significant challenge for me," said Shi. "I will give my all in the final."
In the women's singles, Wang staged a comeback to defeat Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon 15-21, 21-17, 21-11. She is now poised to become the first player to successfully defend the women's singles title since the tournament's inception in 2018.
Wang's final opponent will be South Korea's An Se-young, who defeated Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-15, 21-12.
A victory for An in the final would see her equal the season record of 11 titles set by Japan's Kento Momota and achieve a historic season win rate of 94.8%.
"Every match against An is extremely tough. I must prepare for the toughest battle tomorrow and look forward to how we perform," Wang said.
In the mixed doubles, the host nation is guaranteed the gold after Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping, and Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin won their respective semifinals to set up an all-Chinese final.
The women's doubles final will feature a clash between South Korea's Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee, and Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto of Japan.
South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae needed only 28 minutes to beat Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia. The pair will face Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang next, after the Chinese duo defeated India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
The tournament features only the top eight players and pairs from the year-end BWF World Tour rankings in each discipline, with a maximum of two entries per member association. The reigning Olympic and world champions also earn automatic qualification.
The finals will be played on Sunday. ■