By Nick Butler

Spain's Carolina Marin continued her rapid rise up the echelons of the sport with victory in Birmingham ©AFP/Getty ImagesWorld champions came to the fore on the final day of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham, with China's Chen Long and Spain's Carolina Marín taking the singles titles. 


Marín, the 21-year-old from Huelva, who shot to prominence last summer with a shock victory at the World Championships in Copenhagen, maintained her good form to win a first Superseries title,

She did so after a titanic battle with Indian hope Saina Nehwal, winning a tight second game from 6-1 after losing the first before powering away in the third to eventually prevail 16-21, 21-14, 21-7.

"I was making too many easy mistakes and my hand was really nervous at the start, but then I just wanted to enjoy it," said Marin following her 62-minute win.

Nehwal still received plaudits after a great tournament, receiving a congratulatory message from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While the 6,000 strong crowd at the Barclaycard Arena had been warmed up by this first titanic battle, there was more to come as world number one Long took on Danish second seed Jan Ø. Jørgensen in the men's singles.

As expected, it was the Chinese player who took the victory, but only just, with the 26-year-old holding his nerve after a thrilling encounter to triumph 15-21, 21-17, 21-15. 

China's Chen Long poses with his trophy following his thrilling All England Badminton Championships men's singles victory in Birmingham ©AFP/Getty ImagesChina's Chen Long poses with his trophy following his thrilling All England Badminton Championships men's singles victory in Birmingham ©AFP/Getty Images



With Malaysia's 2014 All England champion Lee Chong Wei currently suspended following a failed drugs test and China's London 2012 Olympic champion Lin Dan suffering a disappointing loss this week, the match signaled a changing of the guard in the men's singles stakes. 

"I believed that I could come back so I kept calm and didn't rush the points," said Chen.

"I played tighter and didn't let in distractions."

There was more Chinese success elsewhere as world champions and top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei defeated three-time winners Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia 21-10, 21-10 to win the mixed doubles title.

Bao Yixin and Tang Yuanting also won an all-Chinese women's doubles clash 21-14, 21-14 over Wang Xialoi and Yu Yang in just 39 minutes.

But Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark reversed the trend in the men's doubles as they defeated Fu Haifen and Nan, contesting his second final of the day, 21-17, 22-20.

The next Badminton World Federation Superseries event is due to take place in New Delhi from March 24 to 29.

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