Six titles from six finals in 2025. An Se Young kept perfect record going as she annexed her 33^rd career title at the DAIHATSU Japan Open 2025 with a one-sided win over Wang Zhi Yi.

It was her quickest final win of the year against one of the very few opponents to have beaten her over the last 12 months. The 21-12 21-10 result in 42 minutes gave the world champion her 29^th BWF World Tour title and recapture the Japan Open that she won two years ago.

“I spent a lot of time thinking deeply about how to approach this match, and I also trained extensively,” said the champion. “I’m satisfied with the result because I was able to show improvement compared to before, and I feel that all the hard work I’ve put in was not in vain.

“After the Indonesia Open, I worked hard to improve the areas I felt were lacking in my performance. I reflected on what kind of play would lead to better results and prepared accordingly. I’m honoured to have this title for the second time.”

An’s compatriots Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae celebrated their soon-to-be status as world No.1 with a tactical masterclass over current No.1 Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin. The Koreans fell behind in the second game and trailed at the interval but turned the tide with a seven-point sequence that buried the Malaysian challenge, 21-16 21-17.

“Becoming world No.1 is a great achievement for us and we’re proud of it. Rather than trying to prove something, we just focused on playing our best and pushing ourselves to a higher level. We approached this match with that mindset,” said Seo.

Three Titles for China

The men’s singles final saw Shi Yu Qi step up a gear when he needed to, as he captured China’s first Japan Open men’s singles title in a decade following Lin Dan’s 2015 win. The 21-17 21-15 result over defending champion Alex Lanier was his third title of the year.

“Each match was very long and it was hard to score points, so it took a lot of physical energy,” said Shi. “Winning the title will help my confidence. But I still need to keep working hard. I tried to stick to my own playing style, but it was really tough. My opponent also played very well.”

Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning and Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin defended their titles in women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Jiang/Wei had a harder time fending off Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran, 21-19 16-21 21-15, while Liu/Tan completed their fifth consecutive win over Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan, 21-15 21-14.

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