China's top seed Shi Yuqi wins All England Open / Photo: © AFP
China's top seed Shi Yuqi wins All England Open
China's badminton world number one Shi Yuqi delivered a composed performance to see off Taiwan's Lee Chia-hao 21-17, 21-19 on Sunday, sealing his second men's singles title at the All England Open.
Shi came from behind in the first game in Birmingham and pulled away as the gap in class between himself and his 22nd-ranked opponent became evident.
Lee came out of the blocks firing and opened up a three-point lead, but Shi reeled off six straight points and never relinquished the lead.
The tenacious Lee held an 8-7 lead in the second game but he could not pull away from his 29-year-old opponent, who also won the tournament in 2018.
Shi was briefly made to sweat after his 20-16 lead narrowed to 20-19 but he held his nerve to seal victory.
L.M. Del Campo--ESF
