An to face Wang in womens title clash at World Tour Finals

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Badminton - BWF World Championships - Adidas Arena, Paris, France - August 30, 2025 South Koreas An Se Young in action during her womens singles semifinal against Chinas Yu Fei Chen REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Dec 20 - Paris Olympics gold medallist An Se-young beat Japans Akane Yamaguchi 21-15 21-12 in the last four of badmintons World Tour Final in Hangzhou on Saturday to set up a title clash with defending champion Wang Zhiyi.

Bidding for a second title at the season-ending championships, South Koreas An came at the world champion with power and pace but Yamaguchi repelled the attacks with pinpoint accuracy from the front court.

Ans pressure eventually told, however, and she kept Yamaguchi off balance to take the match with quick rallies.

In the second womens semi-final, Wang, 25, dropped the first game to Ratchanok Intanon, who caused the Chinese player all sorts of problems with the variety of her shots.

The Thai defended well on the back court but Wang ticked up the aggression to take the second game.

Wangs superior fitness began to tell in the third as the 30-year-old Ratchanok tired and the Chinese player emerged with a 15-21 21-17 21-11 win to reach the final.

On the mens side, Christo Popov defeated Japans Kodai Naraokas 21-19 21-8 to reach the final in his tournament debut as a singles player.

He will face the winner of the second semi between Paris Olympics silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Chinas world