The coveted All England Open: a dream for all badminton players in the world
There are numerous events in the world of badminton which grab the attention of top players from the whole world and All England Open Badminton Championship is the most prestigious of all of these tournaments. The meet has become a dream for every shuttler
to win this event. The first edition of this event was played in 1898. Currently, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) has included this tournament in the five premier super series events of the year.
In the last decade, the All England Open Badminton Championships remained full of quality play from top shuttlers of the world. In the category of Men’s Singles, many players made a tremendous run and entered in the history of great players of all-time.
In 2001, it was the Indian wonder, Pullela Gopichand who delivered a stunning performance and grabbed the title by beating Chinese top seed, Chen Hong in the final. However, in 2002, Chen Hong became successful in winning the title by beating Budi Santoso
of Indonesia.
Chen Hong played the third consecutive final of All England Open Badminton Championships in 2003 against Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia. This time the Malaysian emerged as the winner of the Men’s Singles title. In 2004, it was China’s top shuttler and
all-time best player Lin Dan, who defeated the most competent Danish player, Peter Hoeg Gade in a three set battle and became the new claimer of the title. However, in 2005, it was former champion Chen Hong who defeated Lin Dan and clinched the title for the
second time.
The year 2006 brought the glory back to Lin Dan when he crushed Korean Lee Hyun Il in the final showdown of this prestigious event. In the same year, the International Badminton Federation changed the scoring system for making the game more thrilling. In
this scoring system, 21 points were introduced in each set.
Lin Dan continued his impressive run in the 2007 All England Open and successfully defended his title by playing against team-mate, Chen Yu. In the following year, it was Chen Jin of China who became the champion by beating the senior compatriot and defending
champion, Lin Dan.
In 2009, Lin Dan won his 4th title of All England Open Badminton Championships when he defeated the current World Number One, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in straight sets. In the 2010 edition of the All England Open, it was Lee Chong Wei who emerged
as the winner of Men’s Singles title after defeating Kenichi Tago of Japan in straight sets. In the recent edition of 2011, the Malaysian defended his title successfully by proving his worth against Lin Dan in the final of the event.
China proved its dominance in this event since 2001 by winning 7 titles in Men’s Singles category. Lin Dan played seven finals of All England Open Badminton Championship and emerged victorious on four occasions and proved that he is the best in business.
All great players including Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, Taufiq Hidayat, Peter Gade, Chen Jin and Chen Long will gather again in England to claim this lucrative title in the 2012 edition.
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