China defended the Thomas Cup in Horsens on May 4, beating France 3-1 in a final shaped by an opening-singles performance from a visibly unwell Shi Yu Qi, who carried gastroenteritis into the tie and still produced the foundation for a 12th men's team title.
The world number one's three-game win over Christo Popov, 21-16, 16-21, 21-17 in 85 minutes, was the longest opening rubber of the entire Thomas Cup knockout round. Shi was reportedly rated below full fitness through the morning but took the court regardless, holding off France's improving fourth-ranked challenger across an arc that ran from breakthrough to crisis to recovery.
Doubles partner He Ji Ting, who later closed out the tie alongside Ren Xiang Yu in straight games, summarised the team's view of Shi's contribution.
"Yu Qi faced such a big challenge," Ji Ting said. "Combined with his physical condition, he had gastroenteritis and wasn't feeling well and was under a lot of pressure, but he persisted throughout."
"As a member of this team and as a leader, he acted as a stabilising force."
That assessment is consistent with how Shi has been positioned within the Chinese programme over the past two seasons. The world number one has frequently been described internally as the team's emotional anchor as much as its on-court closer, a status that has carried weight in pressure ties even when individual results have wobbled.
France pulled level through Alex Lanier, who beat Li Shi Feng 21-13, 21-10 in 43 minutes for the second singles. Lanier's clinical performance kept the tie alive but was effectively the last sustained French moment of the evening.
Weng Hong Yang restored China's lead in a brutal 96-minute three-gamer against Toma Junior Popov, 22-20, 20-22, 21-19. The match was the longest of the final and produced the highest-quality two-way rallying of the entire tournament. With the tie at 2-1, the doubles came on to close it.
He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu took apart French pair Eloi Adam and Leo Rossi 21-13, 21-16 in a final-rubber that wrapped tidily. The decisive net shot has already been replayed extensively in Chinese sports media, which described "Ji Ting's delicate net shot dropping in to seal China's 12th Thomas Cup title."
The twelfth Thomas Cup keeps China comfortably ahead of nearest rivals Indonesia (14 by World Badminton's all-time count) — a comparison that matters most to record-keepers but which underscores the structural dominance Chinese men's badminton has held across the modern history of the competition.
For France, the runner-up finish is the country's deepest Thomas Cup performance in living memory and validates the development trajectory of a programme that has been steadily building behind Lanier and the Popov brothers. Falling 3-1 in the final is a result that the federation will treat as substantive rather than disappointing.
Shi's tournament was the headline storyline, but the final's structural significance lies in the depth of China's middle-order. Weng Hong Yang's 96-minute win over Popov was the kind of grind result that tends to settle multi-rubber team competitions, and his form across the fortnight has been a quiet feature of the Chinese run.
The Thomas Cup runs again in 2028. Shi Yu Qi, gastroenteritis and all, has just delivered a 12th title in Horsens — and his teammate's quote may be the single best summary of how he did it.
