Published: December 19, 2025 at 4:13 pm
Indian duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were made to sweat it out by second seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in their Group B doubles match at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2025 in Hangzhou on Friday night.
In a contest which ran up for over an hour, the third seeds lost the first game 17-21. But they tightened their belt and took the fight to the rival camp. In a keenly fought game, the Indians prevailed 21-18.
In the decided the Indians didn’t give their rivals a chance to stage a comeback. They won the game 21-15 to take the tie. Satwik and Chirag have won all their three games in the tournament.
The women’s singles Group A battle between top seed An Se Young of Korea and fourth seed Japanese Akane Yamaguchi saw the Olympic champion beat the world champion 14-21 21-5 21-14 to keep her clean record in the tournament and establish the best-ever win rate over a season.
Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon blew past last year’s finalist Han Yue in just 38 minutes, 21-17 21-10, to take her semifinal place behind Group B leader Wang Zhi Yi.
Putri Kusuma Wardani too had an easy outing against Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki, winning 21-17, 21-9.
Men’s singles second seed Li Shi Feng retired from his final Group B match against Chou Tien Chen with an ankle injury. Li was leading 21-14 14-11 when he fell on court and twisted his right ankle. Li’s results from the group will be null and void, and he finishes fourth in the group.
Frenchman Christo Popov came from one game behind to pip Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie. In a contest that lasted one hour and 12 minutes, Popov went down 18-21 in the first game. However, he came back strongly in the match by winning the second game at 21-16 and then had an easy decided which he won 21-13.
Shi Yu Qi defeated Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in straight games. Qi won 21-9, 21-11. Kunlavut Vitidsaran, the top seed, overcame a fighting fourth seed Anders Antonsen 21-15, 18-21, 21-13.
Fukushima-Matsumoto secure semis berth
Yuki Fukushima and Maya Matsumoto secured a semifinal berth after a narrow win over Group B leaders Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan. The Japanese needed a win to qualify ahead of Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian and started strong, but after the Malaysians levelled at a game apiece the match turned into a tight contest, with neither pair able to establish a clear lead. The outcome hung by a thread at 19-all, but the Japanese got a huge reprieve with Tan serving into the net, and they capitalised on the opening to take the match 21-15 16-21 21-19.
Jia/Zhang won their second match of the group, 21-11 21-8 over Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi, but finished third on game difference.
“In the first game we couldn’t play the way we wanted, so for the second game we discussed on how to execute and it was better,” said Muralitharan. “In the third, it was about supporting each other and staying calm and applying pressure. They did well to pressure us, but now this result is in the past and we have to get back.
“Overall, we are quite happy but there are things we need to improve on. We want to stay focussed and rest well and prepare for the next match.”
Tan said she had felt something in her legs and was glad it hadn’t played up. “We tried to enjoy the match. There were some moments when my legs weren’t fine. So, I’m happy that I could finish the match healthy.”
Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue kept themselves in the hunt for a semifinal place with a takedown of top seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran.
The French duo had fallen in an exciting first match in Group A to Feng Yang Zhe/Huang Dong Ping on the opening day, but kept a high level against the Thais. In a match that buzzed with pace and intensity all the way, Gicquel and Delrue prevailed 14-21 21-14 21-18.
“We followed the plan more than in first game,” said Delrue. “In the first game, it was hard to play really short and under the net, and we talked about that, and after that we fight a lot to do that and it was working.”
In the contest for top place in mixed doubles Group B, Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping saved five game points to beat Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei 21-18 26-24.
