Wei flies flag for Malaysia with All-England win

WORLD No1 Lee Chong Wei claimed his first Yonex All-England title with victory over Japanese underdog Kenichi Tago yesterday afternoon.

Lee prevailed 21-19, 21-19 at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena to become the first non-Chinese men's singles winner since 2003 and only the second Malaysian champion in 44 years.

Lee said: "It has been my big dream to win this title and it is really going to help me from now on. I didn't think I played my very best – he was very good and is going to be a big player in the future."

Former world No1 Tine Rasmussen gained revenge for last year's final defeat to Wang Yihan to reclaim her women's singles title. The 30-year-old Dane won 21-14, 18-21, 21-19.

In the mixed doubles final, Chinese qualifiers Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei completed a fairytale week by overcoming former world champions Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir in a 90-minute marathon.

Top seeds Du Jing and Yu Yang came from behind to triumph in the all-Chinese women's doubles final, beating Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei 20-22, 21-16, 21-13.

Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen then edged out fellow Danes Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in a thrilling men's doubles final, 21-23 21-19 26-24.