FORMER world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei cemented his strong comeback to the badminton circuit, taking his third consecutive Super Series title at the Hong Kong Open on Sunday.

    The Malaysian beat Chinese world No. 10 Tian Houwei 21-16, 21-15 to take the crown after a marathon final rally.

    “Today Tian played very well. He played a good defense because I just attacked,” said Lee.

    Lee is on a winning streak after taking back-to-back titles in China and France in a strong return from an eight-month doping ban earlier this year.

    His recent performances have silenced critics who questioned whether the 33-year-old — a prominent fixture on the badminton circuit for nearly a decade — was past his peak. He has his sights firmly set on next year’s Olympics and on finally clinching a gold.

    Lee has two silver medals — from London and Beijing — where on both occasions he was beaten to the top podium position by archrival Lin Dan of China.

    “Now I (will) just concentrate on qualifying for the Olympics, and I want to get (to) the top four in the world,” said Lee, who finally returned to the top 10 at the end of October after dropping out of the rankings. He is now ranked sixth.

    In the women’s competition, two-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain took her sixth title of the year, beating Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in a tightly fought marathon three games.

    The epic 84-minute final — the longest match in the women’s competition at the tournament — saw the world No. 1 lose five match points before finally taking the crown 21-17, 18-21, 22-20.

    “I think it was a tough match. She had a good comeback at the end of the game but I tried to just keep myself down and think positive things that I can beat her,” said Marin.(SD-Agencies)