Badminton: Lee Zii Jia wins All England Open after defeating Viktor Axelsen

Lee Zii Jia defeated defending champion Viktor Axelsen in a thrilling final to claim his first All England Open title. The sixth seeded Malaysian won 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 against the second seeded Dane.

The first set saw the two players level pegging as they progressed to 19-19. The scores were level twenty points later at 29-29 all when the set went into sudden death.

As per the rules, a maximum of 59 points can be played in a set. In this case, Lee won the decisive point to take the set 30-29 in exactly 30 minutes.

The second set seemed to following the same script with the Dane taking a 11-9 lead at the interval.

However, Lee raced ahead to a 18-14 lead and looked to wrapping up the match in straight sets. However, Axelsen fought back to level the score 18-18 and eventually prevailed 22-20 to take the tie to the third set.

The deciding was an anti-climax as Lee surged into a 11-5 lead at the interval and maintained a comfortable advantage before winning the set 21-9 in just 18 minutes.

Before defeating Axelsen, Lee had defeated the two time reigning world champion and top seed Kento Momota in straight sets in the quarter-final.

Japanese players swept up all the other titles. In the women's sngles final, Nozomi Okuhara beat Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-12, 21-16.

Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe claimed the men's double title.

It was 23-year-old Watanabe's second trophy of the tournament. He also hoisted the mixed doubles crown with compatriot Arisa Higashino.

Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara won the women's doubles.