Source:Oriental Image/Zheng Hongliang
[Saba Sports News] The 2025 Badminton World Championships kicked off in Paris, France. As the men’s singles top seed, Chinese star Shi Yuqi made his singles debut on the first day of the main draw against his old rival, India’s Lakshya Sen. In this match, the world number one Shi Yuqi completely suppressed Sen in attacking rallies, comfortably winning in straight games 2-0 to advance to the men’s singles round of 32! It is worth mentioning that in the second game, Shi Yuqi quickly extended his lead to 14-9. However, Sen refused to give up and once closed the gap to 18-19. At the crucial moment, an obvious misjudgment occurred: the shuttlecock had clearly already landed before Sen returned it for a point. Despite Shi Yuqi’s protest, the chair umpire still did not overturn the call. Fortunately, Shi Yuqi was unaffected and scored two consecutive points to seal the game 21-19. Shi Yuqi has never stood on the podium as the men’s singles champion at the World Championships. This year, Viktor Axelsen’s absence due to injury removes a potential competitor from Shi Yuqi’s path to the title. Hopefully, the Chinese top seed can seize this opportunity and strive to perform well in Paris to realize his dream of winning the World Championships.