BWF China Masters concludes in Shenzhen

The 2024 BWF China Masters, the final 750 event leading to the yearend Finals, concluded on Sunday at the Shenzhen Sports Center.

More than 200 players from over 20 countries and regions gathered in Shenzhen for the tournament, where the final battles in the race to the yearend finals were decided.

Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping, who were on an 18-match winning streak, came from behind to defeat Malaysian pair Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin 2-1 to claim their sixth title of the season. After the match, the Chinese mixed doubles duo spoke about the hard-fought victory.

"Although we lost the first game, we managed to catch up after falling significantly behind, so overall, we still had a chance. During this process, Feng and I kept encouraging each other, reminding one another to believe in ourselves and trust each other," said Huang.

In the women's singles match that followed, South Korea's Olympic champion An Se-young beat China's Gao Fangjie to win the title.

"Before the match, I did a lot of preparation, but my performance on the court didn't go as well as I had hoped. This match allowed me to see the gap between us, giving me greater motivation to improve," said Gao.

Chinese women's doubles pair Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning, who reached back-to- back finals in Kumamoto and Shenzhen, defeated another Chinese duo Li Yijing and Luo Xumin 2-0 to claim the title.

"This match wasn't easy because we are quite familiar with each other. However, we were probably better prepared. Last year, it was the Japanese women's doubles pairs who faced off in the final. This year, I think both of our Chinese women’s doubles pairs were determined to seek 'revenge' and didn't want to miss out on the gold medal on home soil," said Tan.

This year's BWF World Tour Finals will take place in Hangzhou next month, where Chinese players who have secured their spots will be striving for top results. Fresh off hosting the 2024 China Masters, the newly renovated Shenzhen Sports Center, is set to play a key role in the 15th National Games, just a year away in 2025.