Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning miss out on world title

The women’s doubles final of the 2026 Badminton World Championships was contested between the top seeds Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning and the third seeds Baek Ha-na/Lee So-hee. The defending champions Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning lost to the Korean pair in straight games, both at 15-21, missing the chance to defend their title.

This year, four Chinese women’s doubles pairs entered the World Championships. After the young pair Luo Yi/Wang Tingge were eliminated in the second round, the three seeded pairs advanced together to the quarterfinals. However, in the quarterfinals, the fourth seeds Jia Yifan/Zhang Shuxian lost first to the host pair and failed to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the eighth seeds Li Yijing/Luo Xumin lost 0-2 to Baek Ha-na/Lee So-hee. Only Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning made it all the way to the final.

Last year at the World Championships, Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning defeated the Malaysian pair in the final to win their first world title. In this year’s final, facing old rivals Baek Ha-na/Lee So-hee—whom they had played 17 times before, holding a clear advantage in the head-to-head record, and having achieved five consecutive wins this year.

However, in this match Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning started slowly. In the first game, they trailed 0-5 and were always in a passive position, losing the first game 15-21. In the second game, Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning still did not find their best form and remained under pressure from the opponents, always kept in the opponents’ rhythm. Although the opponents made some errors, Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning did not seize the chance to catch up, and again lost 15-21. They finally lost the match 0-2. For the first time since Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan won the title in 2021, the Chinese team missed the women’s doubles title and the chance for five consecutive championships, while the Korean pair won the title for the first time.