Kento Momota now has company.
The Japanese great’s all-time record haul of 11 titles over a season was equalled by Korea’s An Se Young as she became the first women’s singles player to achieve the feat. Not long after, her compatriots Kim Won Ho/Seo Seung Jae too raked in their 11th title of 2025, with Seo individually claiming his 12th – the other title coming from his association with a different player, Yong Jin.
Kim/Seo’s final win capped a memorable evening for Korea as they claimed three titles from the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2025, with Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee having prevailed in the women’s doubles.
Two years ago, at this very tournament, An Se Young was on track for the record before letting the moment slip in the semifinals. She was 19-10 up in the third game of her semifinal against Tai Tzu Ying before an uncharacteristic collapse derailed her attempt at history.
This time there was to be no slip-up. The final, against Wang Zhi Yi, was played at a punishing pace; Wang proving a worthy opponent who, over the first two games, took the tested the limits of An’s physical and mental endurance. But every rally came at high cost, and it was the defending champion who started to wilt. From early in the third game there was only one obvious winner, but there was some additional drama with An clutching her cramping leg. At 20-9 she made a net kill and was about to celebrate, but was faulted on the shot. She closed it out two points later.
“It was a gruelling match,” An said. “Towards the end, my leg hurt every time I landed on it, but I stuck to it through the end. I’m really happy that I was able to finish with such a great result. I can’t even describe how I feel. My hard work has paid off, and I want to keep going for more records.”
In contrast to the women’s singles final, the men’s doubles final had Kim/Seo mostly in control. Their opponents Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang stayed apace until midway through the first, after which the Koreans were simply better on every count. The second game was a washout for the Chinese as they fell far behind, and the Koreans were comfortable winners at 21-18 21-14.
“This is a time that will never come again so we cherish every moment,” said Seo. “We will continue to work on improving for 2026. “Ever since we paired up at the Malaysian Open, it has revealed a lot about us.”
→Results (Finals)
