In a whirlwind week in Xiamen, China, some of the region’s brightest talents seized an opportunity to make their mark on the global stage. Facing the best in the world, the fearless Australian team took on top competition at the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2025. Drawn into the competitive pool C, their three group stage ties were set to be a battle against the powerhouses of badminton.
AUSTRALIA VS JAPAN
On 28 April, the Australian team took on the formidable Japan. In their first showing of the tournament, the Australians put up a good fight. However, the fourth seed Japan proved too strong, coming away with a 5-0 tie win.
RESULTS
Mixed Doubles:
(AUS) Ricky Tang, Gronya Somerville vs (JAP) Hiroki Midorikawa, Natsu Saito (10-21, 11-21)
Women’s Singles:
(AUS) Tiffany Ho vs (JAP) Tomoka Miyazaki (12-21, 9-21)
Men’s Singles:
(AUS) Jack Yu vs (JAP) Kodai Naraoka (11-21, 15-21)
Women’s Doubles:
(AUS) Gronya Somerville, Angela Yu vs (JAP) Rin Iwanaga, Kie Nakanishi (16-21, 16-21)
Men’s Doubles:
(AUS) Ricky Tang, Frederick Zhao vs (JAP) Takuro Hoki, Yugo Kobayashi (14-21, 12-21)
AUSTRALIA VS MALAYSIA
After regrouping, Australia returned to the court the following day to face off against Malaysia. The Australians were not scared of the high-ranking Malaysian team, and were prepared to take chances to find points.
Across the first four disciplines, Malaysia flexed their technical prowess. They looked set to clean sweep the tie, until Gronya and Angela took their place under the lights.
The Australian duo remained calm against the Malaysian women’s doubles pair of Go Pei Kee and Carmen Ting. They landed shot after shot with precision to take the lead. After 45 minutes, Gronya and Angela emerged victorious.
In a post-match interview with BWF, Gronya said the win was much needed for team morale:
“It is really important going into our match against France”,” she said. “I think we will have a chance to get more points so to get some momentum here with this last win is really important for the team spirit.”
Malaysia won the tie 4-1.
RESULTS
Mixed doubles:
(AUS) Ricky Tang, Gronya Somerville vs (MAS) Chen Tang Jie, Toh Ee Wei (8-21, 12-21)
Men’s Singles:
(AUS) Shrey Dhand vs (MAS) Justin Hoh (9-21, 15-21)
Women’s Singles:
(AUS) Kai Qi (Bernice) Teoh vs (MAS) Karupathevan Letshanaa (6-21, 8-21)
Men’s Doubles:
(AUS) Jack Yu, Frederick Zhao vs (MAS) Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik (8-21, 9-21)
Women’s Doubles:
(AUS) Gronya Somerville, Angela Yu vs (MAS) Go Pei Kee, Carmen Ting (21-15, 21-18)
AUSTRALIA VS FRANCE
Following the two days of intense competition, the team from Oceania had a recovery day. During this time, they developed a game plan to take on France.
On 1 May, Australia entered the arena one last time in a battle for third place in the group.
In the mixed doubles, Ricky and Gronya took the first game in a close battle. Trading points with their opponents, the French duo of Grégorie Deschamp and Margot Lambert took the second game by the slimmest of margins. Going into the third game, the point was there for anyone’s taking. However, the French team’s endurance and strength led them to take the final game to clinch France’s first point of the match.
In the women’s singles, Tiffany Ho lost the first game to France’s Tatranova. Yet, her class and tenacity shone as she rallied back to take both the second and third games in a grueling 74-minute match. Winning her first point for the Aussies, her exhaustion was apparent as she collapsed to the ground after her match-winning point.
“In the last couple of points of the whole match, there were a lot of feelings surfacing, like have I actually done it? Can I finish off the set? So I just tried to suppress all the emotions and not think about the outcome too much,” Tiffany said.
“Once I had actually won all the emotions just came out and it was very obvious in the photos. I just couldn’t really believe that it had happened,” she continued. “And then at the same time, my body was just so physically tired, everything was hitting me. My coach said she wasn’t sure if I was crying because I was happy or in pain but I think it was a mix of both. I was definitely more happy, but there was also a lot of pain in the body as well.”
The women’s mixed doubles was a three-game thriller. With only two points separating the two teams in two of games. Gronya and Angela fought hard, but it was not enough to hold off Margot Lambert and Camille Pognante.
The mixed and women’s doubles were the deciding matches of the tie, France’s close wins gave the European team a 4 -1 win over Australia and the third placing in the group.
RESULTS
Mixed Doubles:
(AUS) Ricky Tang, Gronya Somerville vs (FRA) Grégorie Deschamp (23-21, 20-22, 14-21)
Women’s Singles:
(AUS) Tiffany Ho vs (FRA) Anna Tatranova (14-21, 21-18, 21-18)
Men’s Singles:
(AUS) Jack Yu vs (FRA) Arnaud Merkle (13-21, 11-21)
Women’s Doubles:
(AUS) Gronya Somerville, Angela Yu vs (FRA) Margot Lambert, Camille Pognante (22-20, 11-21, 19,21)
Men’s Doubles:
(AUS) Ricky Tang, Jack Yu vs (FRA) Mael Cattoen, Lucas Renoir (13-21, 16-21)
Overall TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Results
The hometown favourites, China, ultimately took the title, beating Korea 3-1 in the final. After a dominant performance from China, it came down to the women’s doubles. In 55 minutes, China had clinched their 14th BWF World Mixed Team title.
With the 2017 champions, Korea, in second, Indonesia and Japan rounded out the podium.
For an in-depth recap of the final, click here.
A New Outlook
As the dust settles after the Australians’ whirlwind experience in China, the players have had time to reflect on their experiences.
It was Tiffany Ho’s fourth Sudirman Cup appearance, so she felt confident playing in a big hall in front of an enormous crowd. But it was her work behind the scenes that made the biggest difference in her game this year.
“I’ve been focusing more on the mental side going into these matches,” Tiffany said. “I think that’s been a big part for me that’s been a struggle when going into these big tournaments as there’s a lot of self-doubt.”
It wasn’t until she rewatched the France match she realised how far behind she was in all the games, especially the last one.
“I wasn’t focused on how big of a gap there was,” she said. “It was more about one point at a time. It’s been a big learning curve but having the right mindset and positive thinking in the match can determine whether you win or lose.”
As she resets before her next global campaign later this year, Tiffany and the rest of the Falcons will take their learnings and continue to put in the hours both on and off the court to continue building on the success in Xiamen.
Photos and video via BWF/Badmintonphoto
