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Chen Long finally lives up to his name as world No. 1

Xinhua, March 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

World No. 1 Chen Long, who beat twice Olympic champion Lin Dan in Saturday's semifinals, fought back from one set down to beat Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen at the All England badminton championships here on Sunday.

Chen, the 2013 winner, beat the second-seeded Jorgensen 15-21, 21-17, 21-15 in front of 6,000 fans.

"I believed that I could come back so I kept calm and didn't rush the points," said Chen, 26. "I played tighter and didn't let in distractions."

It was Chen's first title since he climbed to No. 1 position in the world rankings last December. And the win proved more precious considering he eliminated five times champion Lin Dan in the semifinals.

Chen had never beaten Super Dan in their previous six meetings in international arenas.

"I am very happy to win this trophy," Chen said. "But if it were the Olympics or world championships, I would be much happier. Of course, this win will boost my confidence in the buildup to the Rio Olympics."

Jorgensen, aiming to become the first European to win the title since his compatriot Peter Gade 16 years ago, said: "He is so strong physically but I proved that I can play to my world ranking."

Carolina Marin of Spain, last year's surprise winner at the world championships, also made a strong comeback from one game down to win her first Superseries title, beating third seed Saina Nehwal 16-21, 21-14, 21-7.

"I was making too many easy mistakes and my hand was really nervous at the start, but then I just wanted to enjoy it," said Marin.

China's first title came from the mixed doubles final. Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei beat three-time champions Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia 21-10, 21-10.

Bao Yixin/Tang Yuanting also defeated Wang Xialoi/Yu Yang 21-14, 21-14 over 39 minutes in an all-Chinese women's doubles final.

China's hopes of winning a fourth title were dashed by Danish pair Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen in the men's final.

The No. 2 seeds were in top form as Fu Haifen and Zhang Nan, playing his second final of the day, lost 21-17, 22-20. Endi