The Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2025 World Tour Finals will be held in Hangzhou, China from the 17th, and Ahn Se-young will be in Group A and play in the group stage with Akane Yamaguchi, Putri Kusuma Wardani, and Tomokawa Miyazaki. The World Tour Finals have been held in Hangzhou for the past two years, and Ahn Se-young was eliminated in the semifinals the second year despite her brilliant performance at the international competition. In 2023, she beat Tai Tzu-ying, the world number one at the time, in the group stage, but lost in the semifinals. Last year, after the Paris Olympics, she lost to Wang Zhiyi in the semifinals while her condition was not normal. This time, as he is in good condition with 10 wins, he is expected to win for the first time in 4 years after 2021. Yonhap News
(Reporter Kwon Dong-hwan, Xports News) As global powerhouses including Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance, world No. 1) gathered, Chinese fans responded enthusiastically, calling it a “match of the gods.”
In particular, all the Chinese players who fell for Ahn Se-young like fallen leaves are feeling fortunate to have avoided him in the group stage. It was impossible for Wang Zhiyi to compete with Ahn Se-young in the group stage, but he managed to avoid Ahn Se-young all the way to Hanyue.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) held the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals draw ceremony in Hangzhou, China on the 13th (Korean time).
The World Tour Finals is the last tournament of the season held every December. It will be held in Hangzhou, China from the 17th to the 21st.
It consists of five events: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles, and the singles winner receives a prize of 240,000 dollars (about 3527 million won). The doubles champion will receive a prize of $252,000 (about 370 million won).
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2025 World Tour Finals will be held in Hangzhou, China from the 17th, and Ahn Se-young will be in Group A and play in the group stage with Akane Yamaguchi, Putri Kusuma Wardani, and Tomokawa Miyazaki. The World Tour Finals have been held in Hangzhou for the past two years, and Ahn Se-young was eliminated in the semifinals the second year despite her brilliant performance at the international competition. In 2023, she beat Tai Tzu-ying, the world number one at the time, in the group stage, but lost in the semifinals. Last year, after the Paris Olympics, she lost to Wang Zhiyi in the semifinals while her condition was not normal. This time, as he is in good condition with 10 wins, he is expected to win for the first time in 4 years after 2021. BWF video channel
In this season’s World Tour Final women’s singles, eight top-ranked players, including world No. 1 Ahn Se-young, China’s Wang Ziyi (world No. 2), and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi (world No. 3), will participate.
Ahn Se-young, who won 10 gold medals this season in the group draw and has maintained the No. 1 spot in the world rankings for 62 consecutive weeks, received the top seed and entered Group A. Second seed Wang Zhiyi automatically belonged to Group B.
The 3rd seed was occupied by China’s Han Yue (4th in the world), and Yamaguchi was assigned to the 4th seed. As a result of the draw, Yamaguchi was placed in Group A with An Se-young, and Han Yue was placed in Group B with Wang Ziyi.
Afterwards, Putri Kusuma Wardani (Indonesia, 7th in the world) and Tomoka Miyazaki (Japan, 9th in the world) were assigned to Group A, while Fornpawi Chochuwong (Thailand, 6th in the world) and Ratchanok Inthanon (Thailand, 8th in the world) were assigned to Group B.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2025 World Tour Finals will be held in Hangzhou, China from the 17th, and Ahn Se-young will be in Group A and play in the group stage with Akane Yamaguchi, Putri Kusuma Wardani, and Tomokawa Miyazaki. The World Tour Finals have been held in Hangzhou for the past two years, and Ahn Se-young was eliminated in the semifinals the second year despite her brilliant performance at the international competition. In 2023, she beat Tai Tzu-ying, the world number one at the time, in the group stage, but lost in the semifinals. Last year, after the Paris Olympics, she lost to Wang Zhiyi in the semifinals while her condition was not normal. This time, as he is in good condition with 10 wins, he is expected to win for the first time in 4 years after 2021. Yonhap News
In the World Tour, you must place 1st or 2nd in the group stage to advance to the tournament. The four players or four teams that advanced to the semifinals will be drawn again to create a bracket, so you can face players you met in the group stage again.
In women’s singles Group A, Ahn Se-young and Yamaguchi are expected to place first and second in the group and advance to the semifinals.
Yamaguchi, the Japanese badminton star, is the champion of this year’s World Championships. Her record against Ahn Se-young is tight with 15 wins and 15 losses, and she also won the championship by defeating Ahn Se-young in the finals of the Korea Open held in Suwon last September. However, Wardani is also an ace from Indonesia, a powerhouse in badminton, and Miyazaki has a history of winning the World Junior Championships, so some say that the draw for Ahn Se-young’s group was not lucky.
In Group B, Chinese badminton women’s singles powerhouses Wang Zhiyi and Han Yue are expected to advance to the tournament. In particular, since Wang Zhiyi was the champion of the last tournament, attention is focused on whether she can successfully defend her title. There is an assessment that the two Chinese players will easily beat the Thai players.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2025 World Tour Finals will be held in Hangzhou, China from the 17th, and Ahn Se-young will be in Group A and play in the group stage with Akane Yamaguchi, Putri Kusuma Wardani, and Tomokawa Miyazaki. The World Tour Finals have been held in Hangzhou for the past two years, and Ahn Se-young was eliminated in the semifinals the second year despite her brilliant performance at the international competition. In 2023, she beat Tai Tzu-ying, the world number one at the time, in the group stage, but lost in the semifinals. Last year, after the Paris Olympics, she lost to Wang Zhiyi in the semifinals while her condition was not normal. This time, as he is in good condition with 10 wins, he is expected to win for the first time in 4 years after 2021. Yonhap News
When the group formation was confirmed, a Chinese person expressed his expectations in a comment through ‘Sina Sports’, saying, “This draw is truly a battle of gods. The game will be truly thrilling.”
Some watched Ahn Se-young’s performance closely, saying, “Akane Yamaguchi is in top condition, and Se-young Ahn is also showing excellent physical condition,” and “As Se-young Ahn and Akane Yamaguchi are leading Group A, we must also work hard.”
The biggest concern in this year’s World Tour Finals is whether Ahn Se-young will win.
Ahn Se-young, who won 10 international competitions in the 2025 season, will challenge for new history at the World Tour Finals. If he reaches the top of the competition, he will win 11 gold medals this season, tying the record of 11 wins in a single season set by Japanese men’s badminton legend Kento Momota in 2019.
The Korean men’s doubles team of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho will also challenge for their 11th title in a single season at the World Tour Finals. The pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho were placed in Group A in the men’s doubles draw for the World Tour Finals. The two players, who formed a doubles team in January of last year, swept international competitions and ranked first in the world in men’s doubles despite only being together for 11 months, emerging as strong contenders for the championship at this season’s World Tour Finals. Yonhap News
BWF also drew attention to whether Ahn Se-young will break the record, saying, “Ahn Se-young is on the verge of a historic moment by attempting to break Kento Momota’s record for most wins in a single season (11) at the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals.”
BWF has been holding the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou for the past two years, and Ahn Se-young was eliminated in the semifinals the second year despite her brilliant performance in international competitions. In 2023, she beat Tai Tzu-ying, the world number one at the time, in the group stage, but lost in the semifinals. Last year, after the Paris Olympics, she lost to Wang Zhiyi in the semifinals while her condition was not normal.
This time, as he is in good condition with 10 wins, he is expected to win for the first time in 4 years after 2021.
Meanwhile, the Korean men’s doubles team of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho (Samsung Life Insurance, world No. 1) will also challenge for their 11th title in a single season at the World Tour Finals.
The pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho were placed in Group A in the men’s doubles draw for the World Tour Finals. The two players, who formed a doubles team in January of last year, swept international competitions and ranked first in the world in men’s doubles despite only being together for 11 months, emerging as strong contenders for the championship at this season’s World Tour Finals.
Photo = Yonhap News / BWF
Reporter Kwon Dong-hwan kkddhh95@xportsnews.com
