CHONG WEI CROWNED ALL ENGLAND CHAMPION

KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Bernama) -- Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia was crowned
All England Open 2010 men's singles champion for the first time after beating
Kenichi Tago of Japan at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham Sunday.

To add another feather to his cap, Chong Wei's victory coincided with the
100th anniversary of the championship.

He made it to the final last year but he went down gallantly to Lin Dan of
China.

Trailing 0-4 at the outset of the first game, Chong Wei clawed his way back
to win the closely fought encounter 21-19.

In the second game, the plucky Tago forced Chong Wei into errors before the
world number one got the better of him with a score of 21-19.

Despite his defeat, Tago was still a giant killer where he eliminated top
names, Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin of China, on his way to the final.

In the women's singles final, world number 10 Tine Rassmussen of
Denmark pulled an upset over defending champion and world number one Wang Yihan
of China to grab the prestigous title.

Rassmussen beat Wang 21-14, 18-21, 21-19 after an hour-long match.

In the mixed doubles, Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China won the title after
defeating world number two Nova Widianto-Liliyana Natsir 21-18, 23-25, 21-18.

The battles for the championship titles in the men's and women's doubles
involving Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen and Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of
Denmark, and Du Jing-Yu Yang and Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei of China respectively are
scheduled later this morning.
-- BERNAMA


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