Paris 2024 Olympic champions Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan played their final match together on the international circuit, bowing out in the YONEX French Open 2025 semifinals to compatriots Li Yi Jing/Luo Xu Min 21-16 21-17.

The defeat marked the end of an extraordinary partnership that has rewritten the record books for women’s badminton. Since pairing up in 2014, Chen/Jia have accumulated four World Championships titles (2017, 2021, 2022, 2023), Olympic gold at Paris 2024, silver at Tokyo 2020, two Asian Championship gold and 19 HSBC BWF World Tour titles. They also hold the record for the most World Championships women’s doubles titles by the same pair.

Their reunion of three recent tournaments; Korea Masters, Denmark Open and French Open represented a fitting curtain call. The pair split after the Paris Olympics to help others gain experience and exposure, a decision that has yielded mixed results. Jia flourished with Zhang Shu Xian, claiming the China Masters title while Chen has struggled to replicate that magic with Wang Ting Ge and Keng Shu Liang.

“I don’t know how to answer that question. There are so many memories,” said Chen when asked what she would remember most about their partnership. “To be able to return to a high level and reach back-to-back semifinals, we are really satisfied.”

Back together one last time, they reached the semifinals in consecutive tournaments, showcasing the chemistry forged over more than a decade of dominance.

Jia said: “This isn’t the result we wanted but we are not thinking about the outcome. We wanted to do our best for our last dance. I’m very happy when I step onto court with Chen. It feels like ‘old times’.”

On completing their journey in Rennes, Jia smiled: “My career with Chen has been perfect. We’ve won almost everything together. I still have a long playing career ahead of me. I want to give my best every day.”

Chen, meanwhile, promised continued support: “I will travel to tournaments to cheer her on. I will be the one saying ‘let’s go’ in the crowd.”

Though their international chapter has closed, expect them to surface on China’s national circuit. Perfect partnerships rarely disappear entirely.

→ Results (Semifinals)

→ Order of play (Finals)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“We heard the sad news and that was hard to take in. Every point we fought was for her, to honour her.” – Dechapol Puavaranukroh on hearing the passing of Queen Sirikit, the mother of Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn

“I was mentally drained. It was difficult to make a comeback. I made a lot of mistakes. Chen is a perfect player so it was important to be accurate. It’s always very hard to play her.” – An Se Young reveals her thoughts after defeating friend and rival Chen Yu Fei 23-21 18-21 21-16 to reach consecutive finals

“I feel lucky to be part of history. Throughout the tournament, things have gone my way. The crowd and atmosphere really cheered me up when I needed it.” – Christo Popov after becoming the first home men’s singles finalist in the SuperSeries era