An Se young and Shi Yuqi back to defend KFF Singapore Open titles

SINGAPORE – Still unbeaten in 2025, South Korea’s women’s singles world No. 1 and Olympic champion An Se-young will return to defend her KFF Singapore Badminton Open title from May 27 to June 1 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The 23-year-old has been a dominant force in the sport since becoming world champion and Asian Games gold medallist in 2023, in which she won 10 titles.

In the following year, she became Olympic champion at Paris 2024 despite injury and run-ins with the Badminton Korea Association.

Remarkably, after losing in the semi-finals at the 2024 BWF World Tour Finals, An has won all 20 matches in 2025 to clinch four straight titles on the BWF World Tour, including the All England Open in March despite not being at her physical best.

The world champion said then: “(The All England Open win) showed me the direction I need to go. Winning this year’s All England has significant meaning for my career.

“By not giving up, I learnt that I could be very strong. I’m very proud of myself.”

China’s men’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi will also be back to defend his title. He has form on his side, having won the All England Open and Malaysia Open, while reaching the Indonesia Masters semi-finals.

However, his fine run was stopped in the Badminton Asia Championships quarter-finals where he lost to Loh Kean Yew.

The 11th-ranked Singaporean, who leads home hopes, has been in resurgent form in recent months. He made it to at least the last eight in four of seven events in 2025, including the German Open final and Badminton Asia Championships semi-finals.

The 27-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals of his home open in 2024, said: “I’m always proud to compete in Singapore.

“The cheers of fellow Singaporeans and that