Malaysia's Zii Jia emerges as All England champion in nail-biting showdown
National shuttler Lee Zii Jia emerged as the new All England men’s singles champion after a nail-biting showdown with Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen.
Lee, who is ranked No 10 in the world, bested Axelsen 30-29, 20-22 and 21-9.
Axelsen, ranked No 2 in the world, was the All England men’s singles reigning champion.
In the first set, neither player was able to gain a lead of more than three points.
The close match meant the score went beyond 21 points and it...
National shuttler Lee Zii Jia emerged as the new All England men’s singles champion after a nail-biting showdown with Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen.
Lee, who is ranked No 10 in the world, bested Axelsen 30-29, 20-22 and 21-9.
Axelsen, ranked No 2 in the world, was the All England men’s singles reigning champion.
In the first set, neither player was able to gain a lead of more than three points.
The close match meant the score went beyond 21 points and it dragged on into sudden death.
Lee bested Viktor Axelsen in the first set with a score of 30-29.
The second set also got off to a highly competitive start but Lee was able to pull a four-point lead towards the end.
However, Axelsen managed to pull off a remarkable comeback, clinching the second set with a score of 20-22.
The third set also kicked off with a close match but Axelsen started to waver by mid-game.
Lee was able to pull ahead with up to a 12-point lead.
He finally clinched the third set with a score of 21-9.
The last time Malaysia won the All England men’s singles was in 2017 when Lee Chong Wei clinched the title.
However, Chong Wei retired in 2019, setting off a search for a successor who can match his illustrious record for Malaysia.
The All-England tournament was first held in 1900, significantly predating the World Championships and badminton's admission as an Olympic sport in 1992.
The men's singles title has been won eight times by Indonesia's Rudy Hartono, seven times by Erland Kops of Denmark and six times by China's Lin Dan.
Malaysia's Wong Peng Soon, Eddy Choong and Chong Wei won it four times each.
Other Malaysian winners of the title include Tan Aik Huang and Md Hafiz Hashim.
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