Finally, after six consecutive runner-up finishes, Wang Zhi Yi could revel in the euphoria of a title.

The win carried more than the significance of a title at the YONEX ALL England; what made it even more special for the Chinese was that she had finally managed to break through the shackles An Se Young had imposed on her.

Heading to the All England, she’d lost 10 straight matches to the Korean – all of them in finals. The recent ones were mostly onesided; her last close match with An was at last year’s All England, when she was headed to victory in the second game before An turned it around at the end. The relentlessness of the Korean – her refusal to give in; her impenetrability in defence and her offensive weapons had proved too hard for Wang to break through.

Wang’s run-up to the All England had been less than ideal, for she’d lost the German Open final to her junior compatriot Han Qian Xi. It didn’t derail her quest in Birmingham.

“I didn’t dwell over the loss from last week’s final; there are positive experiences I can learn from,” Wang said. “It’s more important to keep building on the things that worked well instead of focusing on the negatives.”

At the All England she would edge Supanida Katethong in a close second round match; outplay Tomoka Miyazaki in three, and earn a hard-fought straight-games win over Akane Yamaguchi.

“I played three tough games against Miyazaki and in the semifinals I was leading the second game and then Yamaguchi caught up at 19. There were many tough moments but I managed to stay focused on how to play the next point instead of thinking about the previous point,” Wang would say.

On Sunday the badminton world saw how badly Wang wanted to change the script. It was not so much about ability but desire. Wang had used An Se Young as a template to elevate her own game – she chased every shuttle down, often from hopeless positions multiple times in a rally. Faced by an opponent who would not concede an inch, there was just a hint of desperation in An’s response. Her usual precision was off. Yet she was tenacious enough to save three match points before Wang nailed it on the fourth.

“It was a very difficult match,” said the champion. “I just focused on my strategy and played with patience. We had a lot of long rallies, so I had to be patient and keep moving.”

What had made the difference, she said, was her mental strength in lasting the rallies and not dwelling on similar situations in the past.

“Mentality was one of the key points that I changed today. In past matches, I couldn’t last to the end of long rallies but today I could. This is one of the significant things that led to this result. I would want to learn from this for the future.

“There were occasions previously when I had match points and went on to lose. But today I didn’t think about the past matches, I just focused on each point on court.

“I had a more targeted game plan this time. I took some positives and lessons from our previous matches. I focused on the trajectory of my shots and was very patient, especially during long rallies.”

An had the overwhelming advantage in career meetings, and Wang had to shake that off.

“Today, I was not bothered by our previous head-to-head record. I treated this as a new match. Every time I played her, I tried to challenge her. I hope each time I play I can perform better than the last match.

“I’m super excited and I feel like a dream came true. Honestly, I still can’t believe I won the match. I’m really really happy.”