The world No.1 players in all the five disciplines flexed their muscles on finals day of PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2023. It has only happened once – at Denmark Open in 2018 – when the ranking-topping players swept clean the honours.

• Viktor Axelsen’s comprehensive 21-6 21-15 win over Kodai Naraoka made him the first men’s singles player since record 12-time champion Lee Chong Wei in 2014 to win back-to-back Malaysia Opens.

Axelsen: “I’m lucky Lee isn’t playing anymore because I’ve had the experience of taking him on in this arena and it’s no fun. I’m happy to have my name twice on the list of this legendary tournament. To perform two years in a row is a big achievement. I’m driven by the passion to improve. I try to be better every day and I feel like I still have room for improvement. It’s also no surprise Kodai is a little tired, his time on court has been more than double mine.”

• Akane Yamaguchi came back from a game down to defeat An Se Young 12-21 21-19 21-11 to win her first Malaysia Open title. She made her competition debut in 2014.

Yamaguchi: “I’ve not played my best at previous editions but I was able to give a solid performance this time. I didn’t start well but I knew if stayed in the game I’d have a good chance in the decider. An was tiring and becoming slower, and I was able to take advantage.”

• Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto completed their HSBC BWF World Tour title collection after beating young Chinese duo Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang 21-18 18-21 21-13. They are the first men’s pair to win at least a title each in Super 300, 500, 750 and 1000.

Alfian: “Our first Super 1000 title makes us happy and contented but we also want it to be the push to keep achieving big things. We are exhausted of playing a lot of three-game matches but we enjoyed it because it’s part of our responsibility to win (for our nation).”

• Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan, winners in 2019, outplayed Baek Ha Na–Lee Yu Lim 21-16 21-10 in 52 minutes.

Jia: “We have to thank our teammates (Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu) because they drained the Korean pair in the semifinal. Last night, we did some analysis with them, down to some minute details.”

• Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong continued their remarkable run of having lost only once since April by besting Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino 21-19 21-11. A fourth title in a row also means they are now the competition’s most successful mixed pair.

Zheng: “There’s something special about Malaysia. I hope we can continue being successful here. Every year is a restart, everything is back to square one. We don’t live on past glory.”

Huang: “In the past nine months, we’ve been playing almost non-stop but we don’t fear losing. We try not to think about our record of consecutive wins. We treat each match as a first step.”