China's top seed Shi reaches fourth Badminton All England final

Shi Yuqi hits a return during the men's singles semifinal against Li Shifeng of China at All England Open Badminton Championships 2025 in Birmingham, Britain, March 15, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

LONDON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Shi Yuqi is one victory away from his second Badminton All England title as the top seed defeated teammate Li Shifeng 21-9, 20-22 and 21-19 on Saturday.

Shi, 29, suffered a bitter loss to Li in both the All England and Asian Games finals in 2023. Since then, he has outplayed the 25-year-old in all of their three meetings.

Shi took the opening game easily, but met strong challenges from the sixth seed in the following two games.

"The last two games were balanced. We both played at a high level and were extremely tired in the end," said Shi, who reached the final for the fourth time in Birmingham.

The 2018 champion will face Lee Chia-hao from Chinese Taipei in the final as Lee edged out French hopeful Alex Lanier 19-21, 21-14, 21-17.

Wang Zhiyi hits a return during the women's singles semifinal against Han Yue of China at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2025 in Birmingham, Britain, March 15, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

The women's final will be played between top seed An Se-young of South Korea and China's second seed Wang Zhiyi.

In the semifinals, Paris Olympic champion An beat Japanese third seed Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 21-17, while Wang saw off fourth-seeded teammate Han Yue 21-10, 21-19.

Wang said she looked forward to playing against An, who has clinched three titles in a row this year.

"I know she is unbeaten since the beginning of this year, but I feel I'm also in good form," said 24-year-old Wang.

Meanwhile, Guo Xinwa/Chen Fanghui and Feng Yanzhe/Wei Yaxin have secured the mixed doubles gold medal for China. Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida and their Japanese teammates Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto will lock horns in the women's doubles final. Indonesian pair Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana will fight for the men's doubles title against Seo Seung-jae/Kim Won-ho of South Korea.