The 2025 BWF World Championships finished on a high note for China, as Shi Yuqi won his first world men’s singles title and the pair of Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning won the women’s doubles crown.

In a long and difficult match that went to three games, Shi Yuqi fought back to beat Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the defending champion, by 19-21, 21-10, 21-18. He was behind at first in the third game, but Shi kept his focus and finally won after his opponent hit the shuttlecock out of the court. After the match, Shi said, “Every game was tough. In the final, I tried my very best. I only thought about winning, not losing. I’m very happy to become world champion for the first time.”

The women’s doubles final was also very exciting. Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning played against a strong pair from Malaysia. After three games that were all close, the Chinese players won 21-14, 20-22, 21-17. Liu said, “We really wanted to win this title. In the end, it was about who wanted it more. We trained very hard, and this win makes all our hard work feel worth it.”

Shi Yuqi started playing badminton at a young age. Although his parents first wanted him to play basketball, he loved badminton better. He joined a sports school at age seven and later got into the provincial team and the national youth team. He won several junior titles before becoming an important player on China’s national team. In 2018, he won the All England Open, one of the most important tournaments in badminton. From that time, he has helped the Chinese team win international team events many times.

Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning are also rising stars. At this year’s World Championships, they had an easy win in their first match. They said they had some problems with jet lag but were well-prepared and tried their best in every game. Both Shi and Liu/Tan hope to continue to bring honors for China in the future.