Japan's Nozomi Okuhara won her second All England Open Badminton Championships women's singles title on Sunday, beating Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 21-12, 21-16 in the final in Birmingham.

After dropping the first game in both her quarterfinal and semifinal victories, world No. 4 Okuhara took out the final in straight games against her 11th-ranked opponent to reclaim the title she first won in 2016.

Nozomi Okuhara of Japan celebrates match point after her victory in the Women's single final against Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand during day five of YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships at Utilita Arena Birmingham on March 21, 2021 in Birmingham, England. (Getty/Kyodo)  

"I'm frankly happy to have won the most historical tournament for the second time," said Okuhara, who won bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Yuta Watanabe secured two titles in doubles, after the men's, women's and mixed doubles finals were all-Japanese affairs.

Watanabe won the mixed doubles with Arisa Higashino, beating compatriots Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matsutomo 21-14, 21-13 in the final for their second championship as a pair.

Watanabe and Hiroyuki Endo had earlier defeated Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda in the men's doubles final 21-15, 17-21, 21-11 for their second straight title.

In the women's doubles, the world's No. 3 pair of Wakana Nagahara and Mayu Matsumoto captured their first All England title after defeating No. 1-ranked Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 21-18, 21-16 in the final.

Players from China, South Korea and Taiwan did not participate due to the coronavirus pandemic, while those from Indonesia withdrew during the opening stages.


Related coverage:

Badminton: Endo, Watanabe win 2nd straight All England Open title

Badminton: Kento Momota wins 1st match in international comeback

Tennis' Osaka, badminton's Momota nominated for 2021 Laureus awards