Malaysian star Lee clinches 1st China Open title

Former world number one Lee Chong Wei won the China Open for the first time in his brilliant career on Sunday.

Lee was considered the underdog against China's current world No. 1 Chen Long, who kept a sequence of four straight victories over the 33-year-old Malaysian since April last year. Chen had become unstoppable since then, winning two world titles and remaining unbeaten in finals this year.

However, Lee, who knocked out his longtime arch-rival Lin Dan in the semifinals Saturday, seemed to have found ways to beat Chinese top shuttlers. He used only 50 minutes to overcome Chen 21-15, 21-11 in the final and sealed his first China Open crown, one of the five Premier events in the 12 legs of the BWF World Superseries.

"I'm really happy to have won the China Open on the home court of Lin Dan and Chen Long," said the 33-year-old Lee.

"I've won all the other titles of the superseries, except the China Open. It was very hard to win. Today I just played fast, just kept going. I'm happy that so many fans here were cheering for me."

Lee, who had hinted to retire after Rio 2016 Olympics, said he was not sure whether this show could be his last at China Open. And therefore, he treasured it a lot.

"It makes my career perfect in the superseries," he said.

Despite the defeat, Chen Long is still the most successful player in men's singles this season, having grabbed five superseries titles.

"It's two stops away from the end of the season. No matter what the result is today, it will not affect my mood and form. I can accept victory, then I can also accept defeat," said the 26-year-old Chen.

In women's singles, Li Xuerui beat Saina Nehwal of India 21-12, 21-15 in the final. It is a morale-boost victory for Chinese women's singles as they only reaped two titles from the past 10 Superseries Series events.

The Indian defending champion struggled to cope with Li's powerful shots from the deep.

"I started well, but I wasn't able to connect the shuttle, it was very strange," said Nehwal.

"I think I was in a hurry to finish off points. She was catching my pace very well. She was able to pick out my shots at the net. I should have been more patient."

Elsewhere, Yu Yang and Tang Yuanting, a newly-formed Chinese pair in women's doubles, outclassed Japan's Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi 18-21, 21-13, 21-12.

Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei, the world No.1 pair in mixed doubles, won a pulsating final, 21-19, 17-21, 21-19 over the opponents who had troubled them most - Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen of Denmark.

In men's doubles, Kim Gi Jung/Kim Sa Rang of South Korea beat Chai Biao/Hong Wei of China 21-13, 21-19. The South Koreans erased years of disappointment and earned only their second Superseries title after the Japan Open in 2012. Endi