RIO Olympic gold medalist Chen Long beat his Chinese teammate Lin Dan in the men’s singles final Sunday to win his first Badminton Asia Championship and boost his claims for a berth at the world championships.

The 28-year-old Chen had not won a tournament since last year’s Olympics but ended his barren run in timely fashion when he came from behind to beat Lin 21-23, 21-11, 21-10 in the final at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

It was his first win at the Asian championships, one of the few major tournaments to have eluded him, after he finished on the podium six times previously.

The victory may also help his prospects of competing at this year’s world championships in Glasgow, Scotland, where he would be gunning for a third successive title if selected.

He is currently ranked ninth in the world but there are three Chinese men ahead of him, including Lin. Under the qualifying rules for the world championships, countries can only enter four athletes if they are ranked in the top eight.

With the qualifying deadline having just expired, China can only enter three players in the men’s singles but the selections are up to the Chinese federation, which could ignore the rankings and still opt for Chen.

Lin, 33, beat Malaysia’s current world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in Saturday’s semifinals. But the loss ended Lin’s bid for a record-equalling fifth Asian title.

(SD-Agencies)