The world No. 1 pair beat Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 2-1 (18-21, 21-12, 21-19) in the men’s doubles final of the BWF World Tour Super 1000 event at Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England, on March 9 (Korean time).
They became the first team in 40 years to repeat as champions at the tournament since Park Joo-bong and Kim Moon-soo won in 1985 and 1986.
The two reunited early last year after seven years apart and are regarded as one of South Korea’s top men’s doubles pairings. They reached No. 1 in the world rankings within six months of rejoining and last season won 11 BWF World Tour titles, setting a single-season record.
In women’s singles, world No. 1 An Se-young fell short of becoming the first South Korean singles player to win the All England Open in consecutive years. She lost 0-2 (15-21, 19-21) to world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi of China in the final on March 8.
An had won all 10 of her previous meetings with Wang, but came up short at the All England. Her unbeaten run since the Denmark Open in October ended at 36 straight wins.
In women’s doubles, world No. 4 Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee (Incheon International Airport) finished runners-up. They lost 0-2 (18-21, 12-21) to world No. 1 Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China in the final on March 8.
Baek and Lee were seeking their first All England Open title in two years, dating to 2024, but missed out.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.