Yamaguchi wins maiden all England title

BIRMINGHAM • Japan's Akane Yamaguchi showed why she is the world's in-form badminton player with a dominant victory at the All England Open yesterday, beating South Korea's An Se-young 21-15, 21-15 in the women's singles final.

Denmark's world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen, in his fourth straight All England men's singles final (he won in 2020 but lost the 2019 and 2021 editions), beat unseeded Indian Lakshya Sen 21-10, 21-15.

It was Yamaguchi's fourth title since last October, after the Denmark Open, French Open and World Championships.

This was Yamaguchi's eighth appearance at the sport's oldest tournament and her triumph at the Utilita Arena Birmingham was also vindication after losing the 2018 final to Taiwanese star Tai Tzu-ying.

Yamaguchi, 24, is the fifth woman from her country to claim the All England crown after Hiroe Yuki, Etsuko Takenaka, Noriko Nakayama and Nozomi Okuhara.

The world No. 2 said: "I have been here so many times, but I haven't been able to win the title. I am so happy that I won such a traditional tournament with such authority."

Fourth-ranked An, 20, has been imperious this past week, winning all her matches without dropping a set. But the South Korean faltered at key moments in the final.

Tied at 6-6 in the opener, Yamaguchi won four straight points to seize control. Deadlocked at 9-9 in the next game, An allowed Yamaguchi to win six successive points and could not recover.

An said: "I made quite a number of mistakes and I feel quite disappointed I didn't show my best.

"I tried to make her run into every corner of the court, but she's very capable physically and my plans didn't come off."

Yamaguchi said she came ready for a battle, noting: "From the very beginning, I was prepared for a match with long and tough rallies."

Her remarkable run over the past six months will not surprise her inner circle.

A child prodigy, she joined the national squad when she was just 15. Within a year, she captured the 2013 Japan Open, becoming the youngest player to claim a BWF Super Series title.

But Yamaguchi remains grounded. She said: "I want to keep practising, win as many titles as possible, especially the ones I haven't achieved yet."

In the other finals, men's doubles pair Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana beat fellow Indonesians Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-19, 21-13 while Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida took down Chinese duo Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu 21-13, 21-9 in the women's doubles. In the mixed doubles final, Japan's Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino beat China's Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping 21-19, 21-19.