Japan’s Yamaguchi Akane clinched her third global crown with a dominant 21-9, 21-13 win over Olympic gold medallist Chen Yufei at the BWF World Championships 2025 in Paris on Sunday (31 August).
The 28-year-old Yamaguchi added to her badminton world titles from 2021 and 2022, becoming only the second woman behind Carolina Marin to own three global crowns. Chen from the People’s Republic of China made her own piece of history equalling the record for most singles medals, extending her tally to five – two silver and three bronze.
Chen stepped onto the court with a heavily strapped right ankle following an injury in her semi-final win over Olympic and former world champion An Seyoung (Republic of Korea).
The Chinese star valiantly pushed through in that match for a straight game victory. The final was a different story against a rampant Yamaguchi. Chen had clearly lost some speed and agility, which proved detrimental against an on-song Yamaguchi.
Yamaguchi made a storming start to the contest as she raced to an 11-4 lead at the mid-game break.
Tokyo Olympic champion Chen put up a gutsy fight after recess with three unanswered points to get within four of the Japanese shuttler.
She could not sustain the intensity as Yamaguchi regained her rhythm to pull ahead to close out the first game, following a five-point run.
Chen dug deep in the second game to give Yamaguchi a run for her money by taking a 6-4 lead in the early exchanges.
But the Japanese player clawed her way back to once again take control of the match by opening a three-point gap (9-6).
At the interval, Yamaguchi enjoyed a two-point advantage after Yufei came painstakingly close to winning an exhausting rally.
The tenacious Chen remained within striking distance, with the deficit fluctuating between two and three points.
Yamaguchi found her edge again, opening a six-point cushion (16-10) to inflict maximum damage to Chen’s efforts to force the match into a third game.
Earlier, Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei made history, clinching Malaysia’s first mixed doubles world title with a 21-15, 21-14 win over the Chinese duo of Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin.
The gold is only the second by a Malaysian pair, following Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik men’s doubles success in 2022.