China’s dominance of the Sudirman Cup — badminton’s World Blended Workforce Championships — is unparalleled. It’s little shock that the badminton powerhouses have made it to one more closing of the match that actually measures a rustic’s depth throughout the 5 disciplines. They’re now of their sixteenth straight closing.
On Saturday, they made quick work of Japan within the semifinal, cantering via 3-0, simply as they did within the quarterfinals in opposition to Malaysia, and on each events not even requiring the providers of their males’s and girls’s doubles, such is their power. They’ve gained 13 Sudirman Cup gold medals out of the final 15 out there, and on the 2 events they didn’t triumph (2003 and 2017). it was Korea who topped the rostrum. On Sunday, it will likely be China vs Korea as soon as extra… and if anybody has the possibility to upset the Chinese language juggernaut, it will likely be Korea, led by the insatiable drive of An Seyoung and the dynamic leftie doubles celebrity Search engine marketing Seungjae, who will as soon as once more doubtless play each blended and males’s doubles.
Within the second semifinals on Saturday in Xiamen, Korea had been pushed to their limits by Indonesia, the second seeds. And finally, it was An’s brilliance and the depth in doubles that got here via. Korea might have sealed the tie within the fourth match, when Search engine marketing and Kim Received Ho had a match level in opposition to Bagas Maulana and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, however the Indonesians gained a thriller 26-24 within the third sport. It gave Indonesia a flicker of hope, however after a short wobble, world No. 3 Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee’s high quality got here via.
China’s benefit lies of their enviable elite expertise. The lineup they fielded within the semifinals learn like this: world No. 2 in blended doubles, world No. 1 in males’s singles, world No. 7 (however Tokyo Olympic champion) in ladies’s singles, world No. 3 in males’s doubles and world No. 1 in ladies’s doubles.
However Korea can counter that. The lads’s singles match is more likely to be probably the most lopsided contest between Shi Yu Qi and whoever Korea area. In ladies’s singles, An Seyoung could possibly be dealing with Chen Yufei (regardless that the latter performed coy about getting chosen), and the latest head-to-head favours the Korean Olympic champion there closely. “I’m very glad in regards to the outcome however the match hasn’t completed. A very powerful factor for me – though I don’t know if I’ll play the subsequent match – is that I’ve to make sure my greatest situation and have the very best psychological state to arrange for the ultimate,” Chen instructed BWF on Saturday.
And don’t let the rankings idiot you on the subject of the three doubles disciplines. Search engine marketing and Chae Yu Jung are the reigning world champions; they simply haven’t performed collectively earlier than the Sudirman Cup this yr, with Search engine marketing focusing solely on males’s doubles. And in that self-discipline, his new pairing with Kim has been red-hot in 2025, having gained the All England Open just lately. In ladies’s doubles, ought to or not it’s required, Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning are undoubtedly the very best on the earth, however Baek and Lee have a beneficial 5-3 head-to-head. China are favourites as soon as extra, however Korea have what it takes to disclaim them a extensively predicted gold.
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