BWF World Tour Finals 2024: Home hero Shi Yuqi sets up final with Anders Antonsen; An Seyoung out
The top two ranked men's shuttlers will face off in Sunday's final while it will be an all-Chinese clash in the women's singles final, both live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com.
Badminton
World number one Shi Yuqi is into the final of the BWF World Tour Finals where he will take on tournament top seed Anders Antonsen.
The Chinese shuttler capitalised on his home advantage in Hangzhou on Saturday (14 December), cruising to a 21-14, 21-18 victory against Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei to make it consecutive appearances in the badminton season grand finale.
Shi controlled the rallies with his versatility and audacious reaches which pushed Chou to the limit. The world number nine came close to forcing a decider, but his hopes were ended by an in-form Shi.
The final will see him face Denmark's world number two who battled past Jonatan Christie 21-6, 15-21, 21-13.
European champion Antonsen demolished the Asian champion in the opening game, but Christie turned the tide in the second to force a decider. However, unforced errors cost the Indonesian and it was Antonsen who made it through to his sixth BWF World Tour final of the year.
The women’s singles final will feature two players from People's Republic of China in Han Yue and Wang Zhi Yi with the host nation guaranteed a first champion since Chen Yufei in 2019.
World number two Wang ended Olympic champion An Seyoung's title defence in straight games, beating the world number one 21-17, 21-14 in 44 minutes.
Zhangzhou native Han also booked her place in the final in straight games in 44 minutes, defeating Japan’s Ohori Aya 21-17, 21-13. This was the final match of Ohori's career with the 28-year-old three-time Asian Games medallist last month announcing her retirement at the end of the season.
There was some disappointment for the home fans with Olympic women's doubles champions Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan going down to Matsuyama Nami and Shida Chiharu. The Japanese pair avenged their Paris 2024 quarter-final defeat to the world number one duo, prevailing 23-21, 21-13 in 67 minutes.
The finals will be played on Sunday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium , live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app in selected territories.