LONDON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China's top seed Shi Yuqi defeated Lee Chia-hao of Chinese Taipei 21-17, 21-19 on Sunday to win the men's singles title at the All England Open Badminton Championships for the second time.
Shi, 29, advanced into the tournament's final for the fourth time after beating teammate and 2023 champion Li Shifeng in Saturday's semifinal.
The 2018 champion said he tried everything he could to keep the rallies long and took advantage of his opponent's errors while facing an in-form Lee on Sunday.
"It's been seven years," said Shi to the crowd on court after the match. "A lot of things have happened during these seven years, ups and downs, but I finally made it because of your support."
In the women's singles final, top seed An Se-young of South Korea came from behind to outplay China's second seed Wang Zhiyi 13-21, 21-18, 21-18.
2024 Olympic champion An maintains her unbeaten run this year across four tournaments, but admitted the final was extremely tough.
"I had all sorts of emotions going through my mind during the second game. The thought that was concrete in my mind was not giving up," said An, who took four points in a row while trailing 17-18 to win the second game.
Meanwhile, Chinese pair Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui won the mixed doubles title for the first time, while Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan were crowned in the women's doubles.
South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae beat Indonesia's Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana to clinch the men's doubles title. ■
