Badminton: Lee wins record fourth Superseries Finals title

KUALA LUMPUR - World number one Lee Chong Wei Sunday became the first player to win four titles in the season-ending BWF World Superseries Finals when he crushed Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto.

It is the Malaysian ace's seventh title this year, following wins in South Korea, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Japan and Hong Kong.

The Olympic silver medallist, who won this tournament in 2008-2010, easily beat fourth seeded Sugiarto 21-10, 21-12 in the men's singles final.

Earlier, third seeds Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark became the first European winners of the women's doubles when they defeated fourth seeded Chinese pair Ma Jin and Tang Jinhua 21-19, 21-12.

China's Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang triumphed the last three years. Before that, a Malaysian duo won twice.

Later Sunday, Pedersen will aim to also be the first player in history to win two titles in the same Superseries Finals when she teams up with Joachim Fischer Nielsen in the mixed doubles against world champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China.

The Danish pair won in 2009 and 2012, while Zhang and Zhao triumphed in 2010 and 2011.

The $500,000 (S$627,500) Superseries Finals bring together the top eight performers in each of the five categories based on points earned from 12 Superseries tournaments.

The men's and women's singles champions pocket $40,000 (S$50,200) each with the runners-up collecting $20,000 (S$25,100).

The doubles champions earn $42,000 (S$52,700) while the losing finalists receive $20,000 (S$25,100).