On May 21, 2023, the final of the Badminton Sudirman Cup continued, following the mixed doubles Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong defeat Seo Seungjae/Cai Youyue, men's singles Shi Yuqi swept Li Youkui 2-0, Guoyu won two consecutive sets and passed the victory, and Chen Yufei, who appeared third, tried to seal the victory.
Because there are no players and events, it is still in the previous order of appearance, mixed doubles, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, women's doubles in turn, this arrangement is conducive to Guoyu, because mixed doubles and men's singles dominate, the first set Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong saved the set, 18-21, 22-20, 21-8 against Xu Chengzai/Cai Youjie, the Chinese team took the lead, the second set men's singles Shi Yuqi against Li Youkui.
Shi Yuqi is the national badminton men's single brother, ranked 10th in the world, his performance in the team competition is very stable, trusted by the coaching staff, just in the first two rounds Shi Yuqi made a big achievement, winning the world second Jinting and the world third Naraoka, it is worthy of recognition to stand up at key moments, especially in the semifinals against Japan, if not for Shi Yuqi withstanding the pressure, there would be no next reversal.
The weakest of the five positions of the South Korean team is the men's singles, lack of first-class players to sit, the current highest ranking in the world is 63rd Heo Junhee, he has not yet entered the Sudirman Cup squad, replaced Quan Yichen Lee Youkui is even more out of the 200th, some high-level events are not eligible to participate, in fact, it is no exaggeration to say that let Sun Wanhu play, the effect may be better than the first three.
In fact, when it comes to Li Youkui, many fans may not be familiar with it, he is a young player that the Korean team focuses on, but his talent is indeed limited, often focuses on participation, the results are relatively mediocre, and the gap with Shi Yuqi is large, Li Youkui has many opportunities to play, but the ranking has not entered the top 200, from here it can be seen that the Korean men's singles is indeed a successor, but the women's singles appeared a genius An Zhiying.
After the start of the match, the opponent was still very hard, at first the two sides played back and forth, but soon Li Youkui was pulled apart, could not keep up with the rhythm of Shi Yuqi, the first game Shi Yuqi 11-7 into the midfield timeout, then Shi Yuqi led the way, 21-13 to take the lead, the second game Shi Yuqi played steadily, ended the match 21-17, and finally swept Li Youkui 2-0, and Guoyu won two consecutive sets in the final.
At this point, Shi Yuqi ended all his matches in this Sudirman Cup, he won all five appearances, smashed four 2-0, won Elgem, Zheng Jiaheng, Jin Ting, Nara Oka Kōdai, Li Youkui, only Nara Oka Kōda and Shi Yuqi played a tiebreaker, and then it depends on whether the women's singles Chen Yufei can seal the victory, the South Korean team is 0-2 behind, and An Zhiying's on-the-field performance will also be affected to a certain extent.