Korea vs China: Who Will Claim the Uber Cup 2026 Title?

By Park Dae-hyun, SPOTV News — South Korea advanced to the Uber Cup final, setting up a shot at reclaiming the title after a four-year drought.

The opponent in the final will be powerhouse China, a 16-time champion.

South Korea’s women’s badminton team beat Indonesia 3-1 in the Uber Cup semifinals on May 2 in Horsens, Denmark.

An Se-young (Samsung Life) opened at No. 1 singles and completed her fifth straight shutout, seizing early momentum for Korea.

The doubles pairing of Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee also delivered, winning a physical, 88-minute battle 2-1.

Shim Yu-jin (Incheon International Airport) dropped the second singles 0-2, but Jung Na-eun (Hwasun County) and Kim Hye-jung (Samsung Life) halted Indonesia’s comeback in the following doubles match.

The Korean pair won that match 2-0 and punched South Korea’s ticket to the Uber Cup final for the first time in four years.

World No. 1 An Se-young gave South Korea an early indication it’s on track for a third overall Uber Cup title.

She once again showed she was a level above Putri Kusuma Wardani (No. 6), whom she had beaten nine times without defeat prior to this match.

An closed it out in 40 minutes, 2-0 (21-19, 21-5), and handed momentum to Baek and Lee.

The match didn’t begin easily. The opening game was the tournament’s tightest so far.

An looked to seize control early, but a run of four straight points from Wardani turned the tide and exposed vulnerabilities in court distance and timing.

Wardani’s front-court work was outstanding: hairpin drops drew An forward, then short pushes punished the retreat, racking up points.

An struggled with her under-clear early on, sending several long.

At 9-9, Wardani’s short attacking play briefly sailed past the back line, and the pair headed into the first interval with Korea trailing 10-11 — An’s first interval behind in the event.

After the break, An pushed back, but Wardani answered with sharp diagonal attacks and forced errors to retake the lead at 13-12.

The game remained tight into the closing stages. An, showing resilience, fought back from 13-15 to tie at 15-15, then produced a big defensive smash to force an error and moved ahead (18-16).

She kept the pressure and seized game point when Wardani committed a service fault, finishing the game with a diagonal half-smash for a 21-19 win.

That hard-fought first game set the stage for a much cleaner second game for An.

The second game was far more one-sided.

An opened with a 4-point run from 1-1 to seize control, then sustained pressure with precise strokes, heavy diagonal smashes and straight-line attacks that disrupted Wardani’s rhythm.

From 11-3 at the interval, An extended her run and completed a 10-point streak that effectively sealed the match.

Wardani’s errors mounted; she saw a clear go long at 3-15 and never recovered. An converted match point at 20-5 and closed out the second game 21-5.

With the first singles wrapped up comfortably, Korea moved to the doubles court.

The Baek Ha-na–Lee So-hee pairing kept Korea’s momentum alive by toppling the world No. 17 Indonesian duo.

Baek and Lee defeated Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 21-16) after 1 hour and 28 minutes of intense play.

On paper they were heavy favorites against the lower-ranked pair, but the match proved tighter than expected.

After taking the first game 21-16, Baek and Lee produced one of the tournament’s standout second games. The score traded back and forth and reached 17-17 after Korea surrendered a late lead.

The turning point came during a marathon rally at 17-17 that stretched to 133 shots. Both pairs were visibly drained, and Indonesia edged the sequence to take the second game 21-19.

In the decider, Korea fell behind 0-5 but fought back. Baek’s push and steady defense allowed them to close to 5-6, then rally to lead 8-7 after capitalizing on an opponent error and a long serve point.

Indonesia’s energy waned; their shots began to drift long. Korea entered the final-game interval up 11-8 and then pulled away, taking advantage of a few Indonesian miscues and Lee’s highlight defense to build a 20-15 match point.

Kusuma’s final jump smash sailed wide, and Baek–Lee completed a remarkable comeback from 0-5 to win 21-15 and deliver Korea’s second victory in the semifinal under coach Park Joo-bong’s squad.

The second singles produced an upset.

Shim Yu-jin (world No. 20), a proven Uber Cup performer with a 13-1 record in the event, fell 0-2 (19-21, 19-21) to Talita Ramadhani Wiryawan (No. 63).

Shim’s form dipped from the middle of the first game; she led 13-10 but then yielded seven straight points and couldn’t recover, dropping the first game 19-21.

The second game followed a similar pattern: Shim gave up a five-point run after the interval and, despite fighting, lost by two points again.

Jung Na-eun and Kim Hye-jung extinguished Indonesia’s hopes decisively.

They beat Rachel Alesha Rose and Febby Setianingrum (No. 15) 2-0 (21-16, 21-18), securing the semifinal victory without leaving the outcome to No. 3 singles Kim Ga-ram (Jung Kwan Jang).

South Korea’s reward is a final showdown with China.

China routed Japan 3-0 in the other semifinal held at the same time.

No. 2 Wang Zhi-yi took the first singles, the top-ranked doubles pair Liu Shengsu–Tan Ning won the first doubles, and No. 4 Chen Yufei closed out the second singles.

China reached the final without dropping a game, rolling up a 21-0 game record in the knockout phase.

They swept all three group matches 5-0 and followed with 3-0 wins over Malaysia in the quarterfinals and Japan in the semifinals.

China entered Denmark as the defending champion after sweeping the Chengdu tournament two years ago and remain the clear favorite.

They are dominant across both singles and doubles.

Wang Zhi-yi (world No. 2) leads singles, Olympic champion Chen Yufei is listed at No. 2 for the team, and world No. 5 Han Wei is ready to step in.

In doubles they’ve built an “iron triangle” of pairs with complementary styles.

Top pair Tan Ning–Liu Shengsu bring aggressive attacking play, Xi Fan–Zhang Shusen (No. 4) provide steady, positional control, and the young duo Li Ying–Luo Shumin (No. 8) attack with relentless energy and breakthrough power.

For Korea, seeking the Uber Cup crown for the first time in four years, the final promises to be a stern test.

The South Korea–China final is scheduled for 5 p.m. KST on May 3.