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China win Sudirman Cup for 14th time: An Seyoung does her bit but no stopping Chinese all-round dominance

An Se-young couldn't be beaten but China who started yet another Sudirman Cup as overwhelming favourites, live up to the billing to win an incredible 14th title.

Chinese contingent celebrate after defeating South Korea in the badminton final match at the BWF Sudirman Cup in Xiamen. (AP)

South Korea had An Seyoung. The incredibly gifted shuttler, reigning World and Olympic Champion, has made a sensational start to 2025 even by her very high standards. On Sunday at the Sudirman Cup title clash, she extended her winning run to 25 matches out of 25 played this calendar year. China, however, had everything else going for them. Their remarkable depth of talent across the five disciplines was once again on display as they beat South Korea 3-1 to win the World Mixed Team Championships for an incredible 14th time on their 16th straight appearance in the final.

Korea is next best with 4 titles, now 10 fewer than China.

Before the tie began, China had the luxury of pulling off a surprise in women’s singles, fielding world No 2 Wang Zhi Yi for fresher legs than Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei, who had featured in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Even though it didn’t eventually pay off, Wang did have her moments in a straight-games defeat against An in what was a repeat of the sensational All England final earlier this year.

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“Happy that I could win for the team,” An, who has only dropped 3 games in 25 matches in her perfect start to the year, told BWF. “This is my fourth Sudirman Cup and finally I could win a match in the final. I was able to overcome the pressure. In a team event the pressure is different from an individual tournament.”

But elsewhere, China’s dominance was well and truly ascertained. The opening mixed doubles tie was always going to be critical to the overall outcome and Seo Seungjae and Chae Yujung’s spirited display ran out of steam against Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongpoing. In a thrilling match, the Koreans (reigning world champions but no longer a regular pair on the tour) took the second game but having played late on Saturday, they didn’t have the legs in the end with Chae admitting to errors creeping in as she had to keep stretching herself.

The men’s singles was an absolute no contest as expected with Jeon Hyeokjin managing to win only 10 points in the 21-5, 21-5 match against world No 1 Shi Yuqi. Korea would have fancied their chances in men’s doubles with the red-hot pairing of Seo and Kim Won Ho but it was slated as match No 5 and China had the world’s best women’s doubles pair on their side. Liu Shengsu and Tan Ning were cruising towards the win when World No 3 Baek Hana and Lee Sohee threatened a late fightback in second game. But as Liu-Tan surged ahead from 16-16 to close the match out, they fell on the court while their teammates mobbed them. Gold, never in doubt.

Results: China 3-1 Korea

XD: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping beat Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung 21-16 17-21 21-15
WS: Wang Zhiyi lost to An Seyoung 21-17 21-16
MS: Shi Yuqi beat Jeon Hyeok-jin 21-5 21-5
WD: Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning bt Baek Hana and Lee Sohee 21-14 21-17