Men’s doubles kings Ahsan／Setiawan were fancied by many before the tournament but were knocked out by “king killers” Lee Sheng Mu／Tsai Chia Hsin of Chinese Taipei in their last 16 match. Last year Lee／Tsai took the scalp of Lee Yong Dae／Ko Sung Hyun at the Badminton World Championships and this time they repeated their giant killing feat as they knocked out another top pair. Sadly they went out at the quarter final stage.  

 

His victory made Lee Chong Wei the first player to win the Malaysia Open seven times in a row. Especially, this year was the first time the tournament was upgraded to a Super Series Premier tournament so it was very significant. The local fans showed their joy and excitement by cheering, jumping up and down, banging drums and blowing whistles. In the first game Lee came from behind, taking three points in a row at 18-19 to win the game. Lee brushed aside his opponent 21-9 in the second game to take the match and make history. At the moment of victory, he fell to his knees with his hands over his face and threw down his racket as the weight of trying to be the first to win the men’s single title 10 times was lifted from his shoulders.

 

31-year old Lee revealed that this will probably be his last Malaysia Open. “After the Asian Games in October I will assess my situation and then decide whether to carry on; after all, I now have a family and I want to spend more time with them” he said. After winning, he walked to the side of the court and kissed his one-year-old son, creating a warm scene.

 

It was the stuff of dreams for local fans as their players claimed both the men’s singles and men’s doubles  titles, with the titles in the remaining disciplines all taken by China; Li Xue Rui beat world No. 2 Wang Shi Xian in the women’s singles final, extending her unbeaten run this season. The women’s doubles title was taken by Bao Yi Xin／Tang Jin Hua, who swept away all opposition to win six titles in a row from last year; they beat Japan’s Matsumoto Misaki／Takahashi Ayaka to take their seventh title in succession.

 

The world’s top ranked mixed doubles pair Zhang Nan／Zhao Yun Lei maintained the points gap between them and second ranked Ahmad／Natsir. Both pairs went out at the semifinal stage on Saturday. The title was taken by Xu Chen／Ma Jin, the former world top ranked pair who knock-outed Tontowi Ahmad ／Liliyana Natsir, by overcoming the winners of the title at the 2013 Super Series Finals, Joachim Fischer Nielsen／Christinna Pedersen, to take their first title for a year.