An Se-young and Shi Yuqi win big at Malaysia Open
Olympic gold medallist An Se-young of South Korea got her own back after last year’s World Tour Finals defeat by taking the top award at the Malaysia Open.
Plenty of YONEX All England finalists were back in action in the first event of the season, returning to competition for the first time since the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China.
It also marked the first time in 20 years that Chinese players made it to all five finals on offer at the Axiata Arena.
After falling to China’s Wang Zhiyi at the World Tour Finals in December, An enacted revenge on the court and claimed a dominant 21-17 21-7 win over Wang to take the first title of the year.
World number one Shi Yuqi started his 2025 the same way he ended his 2024 – with men’s singles victory. A YONEX All England winner from 2018, Shi beat Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 21-8 21-15 to clinch the victory.
Shi had beaten fellow countryman Li Shifeng in the semi-finals, falling behind early on the in the match before bouncing back to a commanding 16-21 21-5 21-12.
In the mixed doubles, Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran took the overall victory, and their third ever World Tour title, with an upset over world number one pairing Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping.
Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho won their first men’s double crown together as a partnership with a 19-12 21-12 21-12 over China’s Chen Boyang and Liu Yi.
While Japanese duo Mayu Matsumoto and Yuki Fukushima clinched women’s doubles gold, coming from behind to beat China’s Jia Yifan and Zhang Shu Xian 17-21 21-15 21-15.
