An Se-young and Shi Yuqi back to defend KFF Singapore Open titles
South Korea's women's singles world No. 1, world and Olympic champion An Se-young has been in imperious form in 2025, winning all 20 matches and four tournaments she has played in. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
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 the final 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 on March 16 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 to my career. By not giving up, I learnt that I could be very strong. I'm very proud of myself.'
Men's singles world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China will also be back to defend his title, with form on his side, having won the All England Open and Malaysia Open, and reaching the Indonesia Masters semi-final.
However, his fine run was stopped at the Badminton Asia Championships quarter-final stage when he lost to Loh Kean Yew.
The 11th-ranked Singaporean, who leads home hopes, has been in resurgent form in recent months, making it to at last the last eight in four out of seven events in 2025, including the German Open final and Badminton Asia Championships semi-finals.
The 27-year-old, who reached the quarter-final of his home open in 2024, said: 'I'm always proud to compete in Singapore. The cheers of fellow Singaporeans and that electrifying energy always give me that extra boost. I'm excited for the KFF Singapore Badminton Open and can't wait to play my best in front of the home crowd.'
Other Singaporeans in the main draw include men's singles world No. 23 Jason Teh, German Open champion and women's singles world No. 12 Yeo Jia Min, as well as 27th-ranked mixed doubles pair Jin Yujia and Terry Hee, who will combine at the event for the first time since the latter's wife Jessica Tan retired earlier in the year.
Hee said: 'This is our first year partnering together and I'm thrilled that we qualified for a Super 750 event right here in Singapore. Having my parents in the stands – and also my wife Jessica this year – cheering us on with all the other Singaporeans makes it extra special for me.'
While there are a host of stars for the US$1 million (S$1.31million) tournament, including all five winners from the Badminton Asia Championships such as Thailand's men's singles world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, some big names will be absent.
These include Paris 2024 men's singles champion Viktor Axelsen and bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia. The Dane went for back surgery in April, while the Malaysian is still recovering from a right ankle ligament injury.
Over 70 per cent of the tickets are sold, and daily tickets from $40 to $330 and season passes from $100 to $450 are available from Ticketmaster.
As part of the SG60 celebrations, event organisers have launched 'Chase the Bus', a special campaign honouring Singapore's sporting and political milestones.
Fans are encouraged to spot a SBS Transit Service 7 bus featuring Loh, Teh, Yeo and Hee along with past champions and world-class shuttlers linked to the tournament, snap creative selfies, and post them on Instagram with the hashtag #kffsbo2025chasethebus. Seven lucky winners will each receive a pair of season passes.
David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.
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