Lin Chun-yi and Wang Zhiyi clinch their first prestigious All England Open titles

The All England Open welcomes new champions – relatively major surprises at the world's oldest badminton tournament.

The prestigious Super 1000 badminton tournament All England Open 2026 held in Birmingham, United Kingdom concluded on March 8th according to Vietnam time. Here, the tournament welcomed two entirely new champions in the men's singles and women's singles events, respectively: Lin Chun-yi and Wang Zhiyi.

In the men's singles final, Lin Chun-yi (Chinese Taipei) defeated Lakshya Sen (India) with a score of 2-0 (25-21; 22-20). This was a clash between two standout performers of the tournament – Lin Chun-yi is renowned for being a nemesis of seeded players, while the journey of "Indian Sen" was equally impressive as he defeated the reigning world number one Shi Yuqi right in his opening match, subsequently eliminating Li Shifeng and Victor Lai to reach the final showdown.

Lin and Sen produced an enthralling final, yet the Chinese Taipei player proved superior to claim his first prestigious All England Open title. Lakshya Sen also had his opportunities, leading by up to 5 points in the first half of the second game but could not maintain his advantage.

Meanwhile, the women's singles final was a contest between two of the world's top players currently: An Se-young (South Korea) and Wang Zhiyi (China). Before the match, An Se-young was considered superior with her extremely high form recently, and also dominated the head-to-head record: 18 wins – 4 losses, including a streak of 10 consecutive victories against her major rival.

However, in this 23rd encounter, Wang Zhiyi was the better player. After two games, the world number two defeated her opponent in just two games with scores of 21-15 and 21-19, lifting her first title in Birmingham.

The champions of the men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles events at this year's All England Open were respectively Kim Won-ho/Seo Seung-jae (South Korea), Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning (China), and Ye Hong-wei/Chan Nicole Gonzales (Chinese Taipei).

Vietnam's number one player – Nguyễn Thùy Linh participated in the All England Open, but she did not have the best preparation due to a lengthy travel schedule and stopped in the first round against Line Christophersen (Denmark).