Birmingham: Shuttler Lin Dan of China won his fifth All England title on Sunday when world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei had to retire with a shoulder injury, which developed in the last 24 hours.

The score stood at 21-19, 6-2 to Lin when the Malaysian had to call it a day. There had been some doubt whether Chong Wei would even start the final but he appeared on time to the delight of a near capacity 8,000 crowd at the National Indoor Arena.

But he needed treatment 15 minutes into the match when trailing 15-12 and again at the break after the first game.

Then it soon became clear early in the second set that he could not carry on and the two men shook hands after 31 minutes.

Lin, the Olympic and world champion, said: “I hope the injury does not affect him too much and we can meet at the Olympics again.”

Lin became the first man in the 33-year Open era to win five All England crowns, adding to titles in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009.

In the post-war era, only Rudy Hartono, eight in the 1960s-70s, and Erland Kops, seven in the 1960s, have won the world's oldest tournament more, when it was regarded as the unofficial world championship.