Lin Dan wins Japan Open men`s singles crown

Tokyo: Chinese badminton legend Lin Dan won the men`s singles title at the Japan Open final on Sunday with a victory over Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. 

Lin, a two-time Olympic gold-medallist and five-time world champion, defeated the 21-year-old Dane 21-19, 16-21, 21-19. 

The victory was significant for Lin as he sets his sights on a third consecutive men`s singles title at Rio`s 2016 Olympics. 

He suffered a setback in August with defeat at the hands of Denmark`s Jan O. Jorgensen in the world championships in Indonesia.

"I am training hard to prepare for Rio -- the Olympics is our main focus now -- but I don`t want to think too much at this moment about what I might achieve there," he said on the Rio Games website early this month. 

In the women`s singles final local star Akane Yamaguchi, the winner of the Japan Open in 2013, failed to reclaim the crown when she went down against compatriot Nozomi Okuhara.

Ninth women`s seed Okuhara, who downed Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan in the semi-final, defeated Yamaguchi 21-18, 21-12.