BIRMINGHAM, England - China's Lin Dan won his sixth singles title at the All England badminton championships but a red card in the deciding game cost his compatriot Wang Shixian's third women's singles title here on Sunday.
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Lin Dan poses with his trophy at the All England badminton championships in Birmingham March 13, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] |
Lin, also a five times world champion and double Olympic champion, took only 45 minutes to win 21-9, 21-10 in the final.
Tian, nine years younger than his legendary teammate, never looked in contention with the title, giving Lin his easiest match during the whole tournament.
The men's singles title was China's only victory in the final. This year witnessed the country's worst performance in 17 years competing at the world's oldest badminton tournament. They had previously won at least two titles each time since 1999.
Wang, the winner in 2011 and 2014, dropped the first game 21-11 against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara but stormed back in the second by winning 21-16. She led the third game all the way before Okuhara pulled back to 17-17.
The umpire surprisingly showed a red card to Wang accusing her of delaying the competition. She was then deducted a point.
The 26-year-old did pull it back to 19-19 but ended up losing the following two crucial points and the title after one hour and 39 minutes.
"I think the Chinese players were all badly treated by the judges this year," Wang said after the match. "She (Okuhara) was always wasting time there like doing her shoelaces without the umpire's permission. The umpire just turned a blind eye at her. And for me, he showed me a red card at the crucial moment. I think there should be some rules and a standard."
Lin, nicknamed "Super Dan" by his fans, added the title to his collection of wins in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012, becoming the most successful player here in the past 40 years.
"I felt extremely happy," he said. "Since I was here for the first time in 2002, I have played 11 or 12 tournaments, reaching the finals nine times and winning six. It is not easy. You need to maintain good shape each time and play your best."
"I never expect the final is so easy," he said. "I made very good prepartion for it. I know I will have a good chance."
China lost the women's doubles title for only the third time in 20 years as sixth seed Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang were beaten by third seed Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan 21-10, 21-12.
China, who clean swept all five titles in 2009, failed to produce any players in the men's and mixed doubles finals.
