World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei lived the dream to secure his first All England title on Sunday with a 21-19, 21-19 victory over unseeded Japanese Kenichi Tago.
“It’s a big relief and big dream fulfilled especially as this is the 100th All England championships,” he told reporters.
The Malaysian lost out in last year’s final to world and Olympic champion Lin Dan, but Lin exited this time around in the quarter-finals, easing the way for his old rival.
Chong Wei, who has a poor record against four-times All England winner Lin, said: “I thought this was my best chance when he got knocked out.”
However, he still had to fight hard against Tago, who had earlier beaten top Chinese talent Chen Jin and Bao Chunlai to become the first Japanese to reach the men’s singles final since 1966.
Tago led 4-0 in the first set and 15-11 later on before Chong Wei finally nosed ahead at 16-15. Though Tago managed to save three set points, he finally yielded at 21-19.
In the second, the Malaysian led 6-1 and 11-7, but the tough Japanese leveled at 14-14. Tago saved two match points before a final shuttle from Chong Wei landed just in the baseline to secure the triumph.
“He’s a very good, strong opponent, one to watch out for,” Chong Wei said.
Disappointed Tago, 20, whose mother was an All England doubles finalist 30 years ago, said: “I think my lack of experience at such a big tournament may have told.”
Tine Rasmussen regained the women’s crown with a tense 21-14, 18-21, 21-19 win over holder and top seed Wang Yihan of China.
It was revenge for the tall Dane who first lifted the title in 2008 only to lose it last year to the Chinese.
“I went on court without being nervous at all. I wanted to show my best play and I was feeling good,” Rasmussen said.
China, which won all five All-England titles last year, had to be content with just two this time, the mixed and the women’s doubles.
Zhang Nan and Zhou Yunlei, unseeded and ranked outside the top 100, scored a magnificent surprise win in a great final against Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, the former world mixed doubles champions from Indonesia, by 21-18, 23-25, 21-18.
But Zhou was denied two titles when she and Cheng Shu were unable to capitalize on a lead of a game and 15-12 and lost 20-22, 21-16, 21-13 to Du Jing and Yu Yang, the top seeded Olympic women’s doubles champions.
Later Denmark also won two titles, with Jonas Rasmussen and Lars Paaske, the unseeded former world champions winning the first all-European men’s doubles final since 1983.
But they had to save four match points before overcoming their compatriots, the fourth-seeded Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-23, 21-19, 26-24.
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS