Badminton: Denmark's Viktor Axelsen wins first All England title; Chinese shut out for the first time in 24 years

COPENHAGEN (XINHUA) - Viktor Axelsen won his first All England Open badminton championships following a 21-13, 21-14 victory over Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien-chen at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham on Sunday (March 15), as shuttlers from China failed to win any title for the first time since 1996 .

Women's singles world No. 1 Chen Yufei and women's doubles world No. 6 pair Du Yue and Li Yinhui finished second - those were China's only medals in Birmingham.

"I'm a sensitive guy. If you are not thrilled to stand here in an All England final in front of such an audience, then you are not a human being," said a tearful Axelsen following his triumph.

On paper, Chou, the tournament's top seed, was the favourite but the second-seeded Dane had won nine out of their past 11 encounters.

Axelsen won the first game by controlling play with very few unforced errors and a tsunami of smashes that wrong-footed his hapless opponent.

In the second game, Chou desperately needed to get back into the match but the world No. 7's continued control was not eased.

It was the second year in a row that the 26-year-old appeared in the All England final. He lost to Kento Momota last year. The Japanese world No. 1 was unable to defend his title after an eye socket fracture left him with double vision.

World No. 2 Tai Tzu Ying from Chinese Taipei, who lost to Chen in last year's final, gained revenge by beating the 22-year-old Chinese 21-19, 21-15.

"It was a well-fought match against an opponent who I am especially familiar with over the last few years," said Tai, 25, who dominated the head-to-head record 14-3 before Sunday's final.

"I played against a very stable opponent who made few mistakes and deals well with pressure, so I was happy in the way I was able to control the rallies."

In the women's doubles final, Du and Li were defeated by Japanese pair Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 21-13, 21-15 in the day's first match.

While China's top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan failed to reach the semifinals, Du and Li ousted two pairs with higher rankings than them to make the final.

Talking about their rivals on Sunday, Li said: "Our opponents are all-round players. We are not as experienced as them. They are more consistent with their performances, often reaching the finals."

In the other finals, Japan's Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe edged out top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo from Indonesia 21-18, 12-21, 21-19 to clinch the men's doubles title.

Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia won the mixed doubles gold after beating Thai duo Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-15, 17-21 and 21-8.

The All England tournament was the last Badminton World Federation event before the body's enforced suspension of all competitions, including the Singapore Open, until April 12, owing to the coronavirus crisis.

The New Zealand Open in Auckland starting on April 28 will be the next event on the HSBC BWF World Tour.