Baek/Lee Peak at Season-Ender
Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee wrapped up the year on a high, defending their title at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2025.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The Koreans, who otherwise had a somewhat inconsistent year, prevailed in an epic first game of marathon rallies against Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto – with one even going to 156 shots. Having slipped narrowly in the first, the Japanese stayed level for a while in the second before the consistent pressure from the Koreans wore them down, and they fell apart after the midgame interval, 21-17 21-11.
For the Koreans, this was their season’s second title from their third final.
“We made the final of the World Tour Finals three years in a row and we won the title for the second successive time, so maybe there’s a special chemistry with this city of Hangzhou, and it’s a city of luck,” said Baek.