Playing before a crowd of 10,000 at the Axiata Arena, Axelsen overwhelmed world No 2 Momota with his attacking play to storm to a 21-4 win in the opening game.

The second game was no different, as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion displayed another dominating performance with a 21-7 win to lift his third consecutive Badminton World Federation (BWF) title.

He had already won the Indonesia Open and Masters.

His feat also ended a 15-year Asian domination in the men’s singles.

The last non-Asian to win the men’s title was Dane Peter Gade in 2007.

Ex-national ace Lee Chong Wei won the title nine times, including seven consecutive wins from 2008 to 2014, while Chinese stars Chen Long (2015) and Lin Dan (2017, 2019) also tasted victories.

Axelsen defeated world No 8 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-15, 20-22, 21-11 yesterday after battling for one hour and 11 minutes, while Momota ousted Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-11, 21-12 in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon clinched her second Malaysia Open title by stunning 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Chen Yu Fei of China in the women’s singles final which lasted over an hour.

2013 world champion Ratchanok took the opening game 21-15 but 24-year-old Yu Fei won the second 21-13.

Ratchanok then raced to a 10-1 lead in the decider but the Chinese shuttler narrowed the gap to 10-14.

However, the 2016 champion kept her cool to win 21-16 and clinch the title.

The win is Ratchanok’s third against Yu Fei in 18 meetings and also her first World Tour title since winning the Indonesia Masters in January 2020.

Yu Fei advanced to the final after eliminating four-time champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-13, 21-15 in the last four, while Ratchanok defeated another Chinese shuttler, Wang Zhi Yi, 21-8, 21-18.