Malaysia’s badminton star Lee Chong Wei won his 11th Malaysian Open title, a much-needed boost for his pursuit of a still-elusive Olympic gold medal.

• Lee cruised to victory with a flurry of devastating smashes against world number one Chen Long from China, beating him 21-13, 21-8 in a match that lasted 42 minutes.
• The world number four shuttler was in fine form for the Malaysian competition after suffering early exits in the All England Championships and India Open in March.
• Chen called Lee a role model for young Malaysian shuttlers and said he was happy to have qualified for the final.
• Lee had missed last year’s edition because of a suspension after testing positive for a banned anti-inflammatory substance at the world championships in Copenhagen in 2014.

Lee, one of Malaysia’s most popular sports stars, has repeatedly fallen short in his pursuit of the sport’s top prizes — the world and Olympic titles — despite reaching three world championship finals and two Olympic deciders.