Lee Zii Jia picked up a career-first major title by capturing the All-England Open title after a pulsating 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 triumph over defending champion Viktor Axelsen in a 74-minute battle at the Arena Birmingham.

Victory for the lanky Malaysian puts him in the elite cast of illustrious countryman who won the world’s oldest badminton tournament, including Wong Peng Soon, Eddy Choong, Tan Aik Huang and four-time champion Lee Chong Wei.

Chong Wei was the last national shuttler to win the All-England in 2017, and by ending that drought, Zii Jia now became a champion in his own right.

The world number 10 came into this contest having not dropped a game, including a mammoth quarter-final victory over Kento Momota.

He faced a shuttler who had won three titles this year, and had beaten him in the last two encounters.

But Zii Jia was playing with supreme confidence, and he took the game to Axelsen and found several winners with his big forehand smashes.

In the first game, Zii Jia had match point on eight different occasions, but failed to get the all-important point until both men were tied at 29-29.

The Malaysian eventually prevailed after seeing an Axelsen return go long for the lead.

Zii Jia then had the Dane on the ropes at 18-14 in the second, but gave away several easy points and Axelsen fought back to level at 22-20.

But the world number two was clearly out of gas in the decider, and Zii Jia was left to methodically pick his opponent apart for a straightforward 21-9 triumph.

Relive Zii Jia's epic #AllEnglandOpen win over Axelsen! pic.twitter.com/ggM4c3NcVb

— Stadium Astro ? (@stadiumastro) March 21, 2021

He was the only non-Japanese winner in this Super 1000 event that featured an all-Japan affair in the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles.

Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe beat Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda 21-15, 17-21, 21-11 in the men’s doubles, while Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara overcame compatriots Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota 21-18, 21-16 in the women's doubles.