All England Open: Viktor Axelsen, Tai Tzu Ying emerge champions

London, March 16: Viktor Axelsen of Denmark claimed his maiden men's singles title at the All England Open Championship, while two-time former winner Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei regained the women's singles crown.

The second-seeded Axelsen, a former world champion, beat Chinese Taipei's top seed Chou Tien-chen 21-13, 21-14 in a lop-sided final to add another feather to his hat at a time when the BWF has cancelled all the tournaments after the Coronavirus outbreak.

The 26-year-old Axelsen became the first Dane to take the men's singles title since Peter Gade won it in 1999.

Former world no 1 Tai Tzu, playing in her fourth-straight All England final, overcame top-seeded Chinese Chen Yu Fei 21-19 21-15 to claim her third title at the prestigious tournament.

The season's first Super 1000 World Tour tournament is the last event before the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) suspension of all World Tour and sanctioned tournaments.

The world body took the decision owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed over 6000 people and infected nearly 1,60,000 globally.

Third seeded Japanese Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota beat China's Du Yue and Li Yin Hui 21-13, 21-15 to claim the women's doubles crown, while Indonesian pair of Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti defeated Thailand combination of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-15, 17-21, 21-8 to win the mixed doubles title.