Datuk Lee Chong Wei (born 21 October 1982 in Bagan Serai, Perak) is a Malaysian Chinese professional badminton player. As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 199 consecutive weeks from 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012. He is the third Malaysian player after Rashid Sidek and Roslin Hashim to achieve such a ranking (since official rankings were first kept in the 1980s), and is the only Malaysian shuttler to hold the number one ranking for more than a year.
Lee is a silver medalist in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, making him the sixth Malaysian to win an Olympic medal and the first Malaysian to reach the finals in the men’s singles event, ending Malaysia’s Olympic medal drought since the 1996 Games. This achievement also earned him the title Datuk, and a description by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as a national hero. He repeated the achievement four years later in London, thus making him the most successful Malaysian Olympian in history.
Lee Chong Wei’s personal life
In his early years, Lee favoured basketball, however his mother soon forbade him from the game due to the searing heat of the outdoor basketball court. Lee began to learn badminton at the age of 11, when his father, who liked to play the game, brought him to the badminton hall. Attracting the attention of a local coach, the coach asked Lee’s father if he could take him as a student. After receiving his father’s consent, the coach began to train Lee after school. Discovered by Misbun Sidek, he was drafted into the national squad when he was seventeen years old.
On 3 November 2006, Lee was involved in a car accident. On his way to Bukit Jalil after dinner, he was hit from behind by a vehicle which had lost control after a tire blow out. He was then sent to the Sunway Medical Centre and treated with six stitches for his head injury.
Lee received RM300,000 on 21 August 2008, as a reward for his silver medal effort in the 2008 Olympic Games. Also, he received RM3,000 a month as a lifetime pension beginning in August 2008. For the same achievement, he was conferred with a Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri (DSPN), which carried the title Datuk by Governor of Penang, Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas on 30 August 2008.
He was appointed as UNICEF Malaysia’s National Ambassador in February 2009.
On 6 June 2009, Lee received the Darjah Bakti (DB) award, from Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, in conjunction with the Birthday of Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong, for his achievements in the 2008 Olympics. He was in a relationship with Wong Mew Choo, his teammate. In 2009, Lee and Wong announced they are no longer together during the 2009 World Championships in Hyderabad, India. However, Lee announced his reconciliation with Mew Choo after winning a silver medal in 2012 Summer Olympics. They were married on 9 November 2012, and had their first child, named Kingston in August 2013.
On 16 March 2011, Lee received Permodalan Nasional Berhad shares worth MYR100,000 from Najib Tun razak soon after his triumph in the All England Open. He was appointed as KDU University College ambassador on 31 July 2011.
Lee’s autobiography Dare to be a Champion was officially published on 18 January 2012.
Lee Chong Wei Career
2002–2007
Lee picked up only one title in 2002 and 2003, reaching the final of the 2003 Malaysia Open (his first final of a major tournament) where he was defeated by Chen Hong of China.
Lee then secured two titles in 2004, the Malaysia Open and the Chinese Taipei Open. Lee gained a spot for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In his first Olympic appearance, Lee defeated Ng Wei of Hong Kong in the first round. His journey ended in the second round when he was defeated by Chen Hong. Lee scored another two titles in 2005, his second Malaysia Open title and the Denmark Open. Lee won a bronze in his first appearance in the world meet, the 2005 World Championships after losing to eventual winner Taufik Hidayat in the semi-final.
Lee won three titles out of six finals in 2006. He was crowned as the winner of the Swiss Open, Asian Badminton Championships and his third Malaysia Open title. He also reached the final of the Chinese Taipei Open, Macau Open and Hong Kong Open. In the Malaysia Open, Lee fought back from 13–20 down in the rubber match and scored eight match points against Lin Dan, and finally won the game with a score of 23–21 to secure the title. Lee won Malaysia’s two gold medals in the badminton event for 2006 Commonwealth Games, in both the men’s singles and mixed team events. Lee reached the top spot twice in the Badminton World Federation’s world rankings in 2006, and he participated in the World Championships as top seed. However, he was upset by Bao Chunlai of China in the quarter-final despite Lee winning at their previous meeting. The match was also marred by two controversial line calls that were not in favour of Lee.
The 2007 season saw Lee failing to reach the final for the first time in five years in the Malaysia Open. He also suffered an early exit in five competitions afterward. Later on that season he took the Indonesia Open crown, his first title since the 2006 Malaysia Open after reuniting with former coach Misbun Sidek from Li Mao. His performance at the second half of the year was solid, as he achieved three titles in the Philippines Open, the Japan Open, and the French Open. He also managed to reach the final of the China Open and Hong Kong Open, despite his knee injury haunting him on both occasions. Lee won all matches he played in the Sudirman Cup in June, despite Malaysia finishing just fifth in the tournament. Lee’s low point of the year was in the World Championships, despite the tournament being held in front of his home crowd and his solid performance during the second half of the year, he was defeated in the third round to Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro. Lee took a swipe at chief coach Yap Kim Hock soon after the defeat by claiming that Yap treated him indifferently and was putting pressure in his preparation for the championships.
2008
Lee kicked off 2008 with success, capturing his fourth Malaysia Open title in five years. He then took part in However, Lee only captured one other title that year, the Singapore Open, which was the final tournament in his pre-Olympic preparations. Other tournaments he took took part in were th Korea Open; the All England Open; the Swiss Open; the Badminton Asia Championships; and Thomas Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia where Lee helped Malaysia advance through to the semi-final where he defeated Lin Dan to give Malaysia a 1–0 lead in its clash with defending champion China. However, Malaysia eventually lost 2–3 due to the defeat of its first doubles team in the vital final match.
In the 2008 Olympic Games, Lee was given a bye in the first round. He cruised to straight game victories over Ronald Susilo in the second round, Kęstutis Navickas in the third round, and Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals Lee Hyun-il gave him a tough fight, but eventually Lee was able to beat the South Korean and reach the final. However, it was a one-sided final, as Lee was completely outplayed by Lin Dan and salvaged only 20 points, losing 12–21, 8–21. He came second place overall.
Lee participated in several tournaments after the Olympic Games without capturing a title. He advanced to the finals of the Japan Open, the Macau Open and the China Open, but lost to Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Taufik Hidayat, and Lin Dan respectively. In the French Open Lee was eliminated in the semi-finals. His coach, Misbun Sidek, cited the pressure of being ranked world number one to explain Lee’s recent failure to capture a title.
Lee ended his last Super Series tournament of the year, the Hong Kong Open, with a sudden withdrawal due to a knee injury, conceding a walkover to Germany’s Marc Zwiebler.[50] His last minute withdrawal led to the Chinese media to tag him as the “weakest world number one”. The Chinese media also speculated that the three factors had hampered Lee’s performance since the Olympic Games. They listed these as the stress of the Olympic final, a phobia of Lin Dan due to his lopsided Olympic defeat at Lin’s hands, and (echoing Misbun Sidek’s conjecture) the pressure of being the world number one.
Despite Lee’s recent difficulties in international play, he recorded his seventh consecutive victory at the National Badminton Grand Prix Final in Kedah on 12 December 2008, thus breaking the record of six consecutive titles set by Misbun Sidek. Lee ended the year with a title in the Super Series Masters Finals. However, Lin Dan and China’s other top players did not compete, their association citing injuries and fatigue.
2009
Lee Chong Wei started the 2009 season with his fifth Malaysia Open title. He failed to secure his first Korea Open and All England Open title despite marching into the final. However, he secured his second title of the year in the Swiss Open which was held in Basel, defeating Lin Dan in straight sets and marking his first win in the finals against the Chinese opponent outside home turf. Next, Lee was surprisingly defeated by Chen Long of China in the India Open. He cited the loss was due to food poisoning and insisted the authorities improve the conditions before the World Championships. In May, Lee helped Malaysia reach the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup, the first in national history, despite his unbeaten record in the tournament being blown out by Lin Dan. He bagged another two titles in June, the Indonesia Open and the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold, despite failing to defend his Singapore Open title when he was taken by Nguyen Tien Minh in the second round.
Lee kicked off the second half of the season with defeat by Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the world meets, but went on to win the Macau Open in August. He reached the semi-final in the China Masters, but once again failed to beat his all time rival Lin Dan. Then, Lee participated in the Japan Open. He only managed to reach the second round of the Open, before winning the Hong Kong Open in November. His inconsistency saw him tumble down in the first round of the China Open. In December, Lee defended his Super Series Masters Finals title, which saw the competition played without the top badminton players in the world.
2010
Lee started the year with the title in all events he took part, his first treble in the Super Series titles. He gained his first ever Korea Open crown, sixth Malaysia Open, and defeated Kenichi Tago to win the oldest and prestigious badminton championship in the world, the All England Open, his first since he took part in 2004.
Lee participated in the Thomas Cup in his home ground. He managed to defeat Kenichi Tago and take the first point, despite Malaysia’s eventual loss (2–3) to Japan. In the quarter-finals, he beat Peter Gade, thus helping to secure Malaysia’s place in the semi-finals. In the semi-finals against China, Lee was defeated by Lin Dan, which ended his 18-match unbeaten record since the start of the year.
In June, Lee participated in the Singapore Open losing in the quarter-finals. However, Lee bounced back winning the Indonesia Open, Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold in July, and Macau Open in August. In late August, Lee suffered a shock exit in another attempt for the World Championships, but was beaten by Taufik Hidayat in the quarter-finals. Misbun cited that the loss was due to the back injury he picked-up after the match against Rajiv Ouseph in the third round. On 26 September, Lee beat his arch rival Lin Dan in the Japan Open, the only title not taken by Chinese players in the tournament.
In October, he helped Malaysia to beat India to defend the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games mixed team event, then he successfully defended his gold medal once again in the singles event a few days later. The following month he won a silver medal at the Asian Games. Despite beating reigning World Champion Chen Jin in the semi-final, Lee once again tasted defeat at the hands of his great rival, Lin Dan, in the final. At season’s end, he bagged his second consecutive Hong Kong Open title, and third consecutive Super Series Master Finals title, where the tournament was held in January 2011.
2011
In January, Lee won his seventh Malaysia Open title by defeating Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia in the final. However, he failed to defend the Korea Open title, the world’s first ever million-dollar badminton tournament, after being beaten by Lin Dan from China in three games. In March, Lee cruised into the final of the All England Open for the third consecutive time and retained his title successfully with a convincing straight games victory over Lin Dan, and was praised by prime minister Najib Tun Razak.
On Labour Day, he won his first ever India Open, and also his third consecutive Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold title a week later. Despite the fact that Lee won all the matches he played during the Sudirman Cup, Malaysia’s journey ended in quarterfinals, after being beaten by South Korea 2–3. In late June, he won the Indonesia Open, becoming the first non-Indonesian player to complete the hat-trick in the tournament.
Lee’s hopes of becoming the first Malaysian to win gold in the World Championships were dashed after defeat by Lin Dan in the final. Lee led for most of the match but lost two important match points in the rubber game. In September, Lee also failed to defend his Japan Open crown after defeat by China’s rising star Chen Long. In October, he lost to Chen Long again in his bid for his second Denmark Open title. He won the French Open a week later. This was followed by triple semi-finals exit in the Hong Kong Open, the China Open, and the Super Series Master Finals.
2012
Lee started the Olympic year with the first Super Series tournament of the season, the Korea Open. In a repeat of the previous year’s final, he avenged his loss to Lin Dan by defeating him in three sets. A week later, he captured his fifth straight and eighth Malaysia Open title, thus equalling the number of home titles held by Wong Peng Soon who won them between 1940 and 1953.
In March, Lee lost in the All England Open when he bowed out in the second game after receiving medical help on three occasions. This also dashed Lee’s hopes of becoming the first man to win three successive All England Open titles. In April, he was defeated by South Korean Shon Wan-ho in the final of the India Open, but retained his Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold title for the fourth time in a row in May. Lee was out for three to four weeks after suffering an ankle injury during the Thomas Cup Group C tie against Denmark.
Lee returned to the court for the first time after recovering from his injury to play in the London Olympic Games. He closely beat Ville Lang of Finland in rubber games for the first round, and blamed pressure for close defeat. In the second round, he eased to a victory against Indonesia’s Simon Santoso, before beating Kashyap Parupalli of India in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, he beat Chen Long of China in straight sets despite early predictions that Chen would be difficult to beat, and set up a repeat of 2008’s final against Lin Dan. This is the second meeting in the Wembley Arena for both players after the 2011 World Championships. Lee led the match after winning the first game but Lin brought it to the rubber games. Despite leading for most of the time in the third game, Lin managed to level the point and edge him narrowly by 21–19, forcing Lee to settle for silver once more. BBC Sport analyst Gail Emms said, “You couldn’t have asked for any more from Lee Chong Wei.”
He won the Japan Open and Denmark Open on his return since the London Olympic Games, but lost in the final of the Hong Kong Open, only a few days after his marriage. Lee ended the year with a loss in the opening match of the Super Series Master Finals and subsequently pulled out of tournament due to thigh injury.
2013
Lee took the Korea Open title for the third time. A week later, he captured his ninth Malaysia Open title, which broke the record of eight titles previously held by Wong Peng Soon. Lee then lost in the final of the All England Open to Chen Long. Lee said he was disappointed with his performance during the tournament, despite marching into the final.
In April, he lost in the semi-finals of the Australia Open, to the young Chinese player Tian Houwei. He then bagged the second India Open title and fifth Indonesia Open. In August, Lee eventually marched into the final of the World Championships, but Lee’s hopes were once again dashed in a repeat of his 2011 final and 2010 Asian Games defeat against Lin Dan. He suffered leg cramps late into the third game. After attempting to continue, he had to retire and was subsequently stretchered to hospital.
After the World Championships, Lee participating in four Super Series tournaments. First, he took the Japan Open title for fourth time. Then, he lost in the final of Denmark Open and semifinal of the French Open, and triumph again in the Hong Kong Open.
Lee won record fourth Masters Finals title, the season ending Super Series tournament.
2014
In January, Lee lost in the final of Korea Open to Chen Long, his fourth straight defeat by the Chinese. He recorded his tenth Malaysia Open title a week later. Soon after the triumph, he announced this would be his last Malaysia Open outing, as he would assess his condition after the Asian Games and may retire if the results are not good.
Further, he won his third All England Open and India Open title respectively. However, he was stunned by Simon Santoso in final of the Singapore Open.
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