All England Badminton Championship finals report

2020 All England Badminton Championship finals came to end with thrilling matches in all five categories played at Arena, Birmingham on Sunday. Tai Tzu Ying and Victor Axselen emerged as winners in singles.

Here we look at the All England Badminton Championship winners

Women’s doubles

In the opening match of the day, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan defeated Du Yue and Lin Yin Hui of China in the women’s doubles. It was a dominating performance by the Japanese pair who looked in complete control to win the match at 21-13, 21-15. The match went for 46 minutes as Fukushima and Hirota won 6 successive points as compared to 3 by the Chinese.

The Japanese started the first game on an aggressive note and did not allow the Chinese pair to come back into the game. At the interval, Fukushima and Hirota had a commanding 11-5 lead. After the interval, the Japanese played with same aggression to win the first set easily. In the second game also, Fukushima and Hirota continued to show their domination to win the set at 21-15 and title also.

Men’s singles

Victor Axeslen defeated Chou Tien Chen of Chines Taipei to win the men’s singles title in two straight sets by 21-13, 21-14. The Danish player reached the finals of All England Badminton Championship last year. Right from word go, Victor was in complete control and made life tough for the Chinese Taipei opponent.

The Dane player had 11-6 lead at the interval in the first game. After the interval, Victor showed aggression and won the first set easily at 21-13. In the second game also, the tall lanky player-created enough pressure on Chou and won the set by 21-14 to win the prestigious title.

Mixed doubles

In the mixed doubles, Praveen Jordan and Melati Deva Oktavianti of Indonesia defeated Thailand pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai in three gruelling sets by 21-15, 17-21, 21-8 to the title.

It was a superb start by the Indonesian pair who played with aggression and dominated Thailand pair taking an 11-5 lead at the interval. After the interval, the Thai pair tried their best but, Jordan and Melati were too strong for their opponents. The Thailand player made a come back to win the 2^nd set at 21-17 to force the game into a decider.

In the final game, the Indonesian pair was too strong and won the match easily at 21-8 to win the prestigious title.

Women’s singles

Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei defeated Chen Yufei of China in two straight sets by 21-19, 21-15 to win the women’s singles title. She took the revenge of last year’s defeat to the same opponent.

The first game saw the Chinese Taipei player dominate and take an 11-5 lead at the interval. After the interval, Chen made a strong come back to reduce the gap, but Tai held her nerves to win the first set at 21-19. In the second game, Tai showed her class and never allowed Chen a sniff winning the match by 21-15 and the title.

Men’s doubles

Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe stunned the World number 1 ranked pair of Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia in three gruelling games by 21-18, 12-21, 21-19 to win the men’s doubles title.

The first game started with both pairs on equal footing taking alternate points before the Indonesian pair took a slender 11-10 lead at the interval. After the interval, the Japanese pair fought back strongly to win the first set easily at 21-18.

In the second game, the Indonesian pair showed their domination and won the second set easily at 21-12 to force the match into a decider. The third set saw some brilliant badminton with long rallies and smashes with both pairs fighting for each point. Endo and Watanabe held their nerves to win the third set at 21-19 to win the prestigious title.