Antonsen and Shi Yuqi have all met in the finals in the last four meetings, and Antonsen swallowed three defeats, including the 2025 Malaysia Badminton Super 1000 tournament that just ended last weekend. In this regard, Antonsen said that if Shi Yuqi is in the best condition, he is the best in the world today.
In the men's singles final of this year's Malaysia Open, Denmark's world No. 2 Antonsen lost 8-21, 15-21 to China's world No. 1 Shi Yuqi, swallowing his seventh defeat in the 10th meeting between the two sides.

Antonsen (left) said that if Shi Yuqi is at his best, he will be the best men's singles player in the world today

The last four duels between the two have come in the finals, and all of them have been tournaments at the highest level on the World Tour. Shi Yuqi won the Malaysia Open in his first event of the year, the World Tour Finals in December and the Super 1000 in Indonesia in June, while Antonsen only won last year's Malaysia Open.

The frequent encounters in the final also reflect why they now occupy the top two positions in the world. After losing to Shi Yuqi in the finals many times, Antonsen admitted that if Shi Yuqi is in the best condition in the court, he will be the best men's singles in the world today. However, he also believes that he can defeat Shi Yuqi again one day.

'He's great, he's playing really well, he's the best men's singles guy in the world at the moment when he's at his best, there's no doubt about that. I've beaten him a few times before, though, so I know I have what it takes to do it, but only if I play at my best. "I haven't been able to do that in our last few encounters, so I need to improve my performance."

Antonsen, who failed to perform well in this year's final at the Malaysia Open, said: "There's not much to say. He was better overall. I'm really disappointed, it's not what I wanted to do on the court, I was hoping to give the crowd a good fight, but I feel like we might only have one game that was tight, and I did my best in that situation, but I was really out of shape. ”