Lee Chong Wei plays against Kenichi Tago in the final of the men's singles at the All England Open Monday. Photo: AFP

Lee Chong Wei, the man who has dominated the Super Series circuit without winning the most major ti-tles, captured the All-England Open in Birmingham Monday.

The top-seeded Malaysian enjoyed a 21-19, 21-19 win over 20-year-old Kenichi Tago, the first Japanese male finalist for nearly half a century, in a final where Lee's experience just got him through tight finishes in both games.

Lee also became the first man to win three Super Series titles in a row, having captured the titles in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur in January.

"It was a big relief to win and a big dream especially as it's the 100th anniversary of the All-England," said Lee.

Lee's capture of the title may not convince everyone that he is now the best player in the world.

That is because Lin Dan of China, who won both the Olympic and World titles, skipped the first two Super Series of the year and mysteriously lost to compatriot Bao Chunlai in the quarterfinals at the All-England.

But Lee did suggest that he is adding a better, big-match temperament to his blistering speed, great defense, and cleverly-timed counterattacks, and may have improved enough to challenge Lin Dan's ambition to retire as Olympic champion at London 2012.

Women's top seed Wang Yihan of China was beaten in the final by Tine Rasmussen in a rematch of the 2009 final. The Dane gained revenge with a 21-14, 18-21, 21-18 victory.

China, which made the history by winning all five All-England titles last year, had to be content with just two this time, the mixed and the women's doubles.

Zhang Nan and Zhou Yunlei, unseeded and ranked outside the world's top 100, scored a magnifi-cent surprise win in a great final against Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, the former world mixed doubles champions from Indonesia, by 21-18, 23-25, 21-18.

But Zhou was denied another title when she and Cheng Shu were unable to capitalize on a lead of a game and 15-12 and lost 20-22, 21-16, 21- 13 to Du Jing and Yu Yang, the top-seeded Olympic women's doubles champions.

Denmark also won two titles, with Jonas Rasmussen and Lars Paaske, the unseeded former world champions winning the first all-European men's doubles final since 1983.

But they had to save four match points before overcoming their compatriots, the fourth-seeded Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-23, 21-19, 26-24.

Agencies