Lee Chong Wei took his ninth successive Malaysian Open title and remains firmly at No.1 in the world rankings

Lee Chong Wei took the title at the two major tournaments in January, the Korea Open Super Series Premier and the Malaysian Open Super Series; he didn’t even come under too much pressure in either final, taking the crowns with ease. For Lee, claiming his ninth Malaysia Open men’s singles title in a row might just be the fruit of his hard work but, for his fans, he is legendary player and a world No. 1 who is incomparable.

According to the latest BWF rankings released on February 7, the top ranked players in the five disciplines are: 

Men’s singles: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia)

Women’s singles: Li Xue Rui (China)

Men’s doubles: Boe/ Mogensen (Denmark)

Women’s doubles: Tian Qing/Zhao Yun Lei (China) 

Mixed doubles: Xu Chen/Ma Jin (China)

Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae took the title at the Korea Open and move into No. 3 spot in the world rankings

Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae

Offering the most prize money of any tournament this year, the Korea Open Super Series Premier attracted a host of top players, serving up a feast of high level play and intense competition for fans. Local favorites Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae and Sung Ji Hyun didn’t let their supporters down, respectively beating world number one pair Boe/ Mogensen of Denmark and China’s Wang Shi Xian to keep the men’s doubles and women’s singles titles in South Korea.

The large number of ranking points they also bagged shot them up the rankings to third. If they do well at the German Open, All England Open Super Series and the Swiss Open, their points tally can be expected to take them close to Malaysia’s Koo Kean Keat/Tan Boon Heong. Sung Ji Hyun has risen up to fifth place; recently she has improved in terms of technique, confidence and results.

KOREA OPEN Super Series Premier finals:

Men’s singles: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) 21-12, 21-15 Du Peng Yu (China)

Women’s singles: Sung Ji Hyun (South Korea) 21-12, 22-20 Wang Shi Xian (China)

Men’s doubles: Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae (South Korea) 19-21, 21-13, 21-10 Boe/ Mogensen (Denmark)

Women’s doubles: Yu Yang/Wang Shao Li (China) 21-17, 21-13 Ma Jin/Tang Jin Hua (China)

Mixed doubles: Zhang Nan/Zhao Yun Lei21-13, 16-21, 13-21 Xu Chen/Ma Jin (China)

Tai Tzu Ying moves up to 9th in the BWF rankings, her highest ever

Tai Tzu Ying

Following on from her success at last year’s Japan Open, Chinese Taipei’s top women’s singles player Tai Tzu Ying took the second Super Series individual title of her career when she bagged the Malaysian Open title. Aged just 18, she is already queen of women’s badminton in Taiwan. At this tournament she beat Denmark’s renowned veteran Tine Baun and world ranked No.2 Saina Nehwal of India on her way to taking the title, in the process moving up to ninth in the world rankings and recording her highest ever ranking. It is hoped that she can keep up her momentum in 2013 and serve up more exciting matches for fans.

With regards to the men’s’ singles final, Lee Chong Wei won by a mile, not only showing spectators what a truly formidable player he is, also setting an almost unbelievable record by winning his ninth Malaysian Open in succession 

MALAYSIAN OPEN Super Series finals:

Men’s singles: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) 21-7, 21-8 Sony Dwi Kuncoro  (Indonesia)

Women’s singles:  Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) 21-17, 21-14 Yao Xue (China)

Men’s doubles: Setiawan/Ahsan(Indonesia)21-15, 21-13 Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae (South Korea)

Women’s doubles:  Tian Qing/Bao Yi Xin (China) 21-16, 21-14Ayaka Takahashi/ Matsutomo Misaki (Japan)

Mixed doubles:  Fischer Nielsen/Pedersen(Denmark)21-13, 21-18Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying(Malaysia)

BWF World Rankings to February 7