CHINA’S Lin Dan swept to his sixth All-England Championships title Sunday and then insisted he was good enough to win a third Olympic men’s singles gold medal at Rio 2016.

    Lin produced his best performance of the week as he outclassed Tian Houwei 21-9 21-10 in an all-Chinese final to join Ireland’s Frank Devlin, Denmark’s Erland Kops and Indonesia’s Rudy Hartono with six or more All-England titles.

    “All the Chinese coaches are here and at 32 I wanted to show them that I can still do it,” Lin said of his expected Olympic tilt later this year.

    “It’s not just about getting Rio qualification points. In China you aren’t selected just by being an Olympic champion. You have to be at your physical best and prove yourself.”

    Lin and Tian entered Sunday’s final with Lin two places ahead in the Race to Rio standings and both players having lost the opening game in their last three matches.

    Lin soon underlined why he is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time thanks to an almost faultless performance.

    He led 7-1 with an array of overhead winners and never let Tian settle in the opening exchanges. Mixing his pace with clever lifts and precise shot-making, Lin sucked Tian into a number of forced errors — nine alone in the opener.

    The former world champion continued the onslaught in the second, holding a 11-3 advantage before Tian went for broke and won five points in a row.

    However, at 15-10, Lin stopped the 24-year-old’s run before finding his range to win the next six points of the contest, the last four celebrated with a fist-pump in front of a sell-out arena.

    “This is my ninth All-England final, my sixth title and my best performance of the week,” Lin said.

    “I wanted to prove that I am still the best in the world,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan marked her 21st birthday with her first All-England title after beating two-time champion Wang Shixian of China 21-11, 16-21, 21-19 in their thrilling final.

    “This is the best birthday of my life,’’ she said.

    Okuhara was behind for most of the decisive game, but found a spark to come from 17-14 down to 19-17 ahead, watch Wang tie at 19, but move ahead with her first match point, and win it when Wang netted a forehand. Okuhara collapsed at the net in joy, the first Japanese singles winner in 39 years. (SD-Agencies)