Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen 21-13, 21-14 in the men’s singles final to bag his first title at the All England Badminton Championships on Sunday. In the women’s singles final, second seed Tai Tzu Ying beat top seed Chen Yu Fei 21-19, 21-15 to bag the title.
It was Tai Tzu Ying’s third All England title in four years and she won it in some style, not letting defending champions Chen Yu Fei get a game in the summit clash.
The season’s first Super 1000 World Tour tournament is the last event before the Badminton World Federation’s suspension of all World Tour and sanctioned tournaments due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Axelsen, who won the Barcelona Masters and the Indonesia Open recently, had finished runner-up to Kento Momota last year but secured the title this time after a dominant performance.
The world No 7 had earlier defeated Lee Zii Jia 17-21, 21-13, 21-19 in the semi-finals and looked in complete control in the summit clash on Sunday. Tien-chen, the world No 2, struggled to hit top gear and made plenty of errors in what turned out to be a fairly one-sided 46-minute contest.
In the women’s doubles final, the Japanese pair of Yuki Fukishima and Sayaka Hirota defeated China’s Du Yue and Li Yin Hui 21-13, 21-15 in 46 minutes to lift the title.
The mixes doubles final saw Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti beat Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-15, 17-21, 21-8.
TTY snuck through in game one, but there's not much to choose between them in this second game....#YAE20 pic.twitter.com/pO3rd6mDNO
— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 15, 2020
Tai Tzu Ying win a third All England in four years with a dominant display over holder Chen Yufei...
— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 15, 2020
Just one final to go this year, not a big match is it? 😉#YAE20 pic.twitter.com/uB1CafRMOG
Advantage Axelsen!
— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 15, 2020
The Great Dane takes a one game lead against CTC...#YAE20 pic.twitter.com/yrYAvbNv0d
🔊 "And the 21 year wait is over!"@ViktorAxelsen follows in the footsteps of Gade, Frost and Kops & secures his first All England 🔥
— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 15, 2020
One of the greats?#YAE20 pic.twitter.com/ie2C4e60Hb
And it's a golden start for the Japanese in the Women's Doubles, as Fukushima & Hirota defeat Du & Li in the first Final of the day!
— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 15, 2020
Men's Singles up next....#YAE20 pic.twitter.com/l1VY1teBDB
One from one for Indonesia on Finals Day!
— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 15, 2020
Jordan & Oktavianti win their biggest title to date here in Birmingham to the delight of the crowd 🙌#YAE20 pic.twitter.com/8gqgV43Eiy