Lee Chong Wei

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lee ().

Lee Chong Wei

Personal information

Born

21 October 1982 (age 30) Bagan Serai, Perak, Malaysia

Height

1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)

Weight

60 kg (130 lb; 9.4 st)

Country

Malaysia

Handedness

Right

Men's singles

Highest ranking

1 (29 June 2006 20 July 2006, 24 August 2006 21 September 2006,

21 August 2008 14 June 2012)

Current ranking

1 (27 December 2012[1])

Medal record[hide] Competitor for Malaysia

Men's badminton Olympic Games Silver Silver Silver Bronze Silver Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold 2012 London 2008 Beijing 2011 London 2005 Anaheim Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou 2006 Doha 2006 Doha Sudirman Cup 2009 Guangzhou Thomas Cup 2010 Kuala Lumpur 2008 Jakarta 2006 Sendai/Tokyo Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi 2010 Delhi 2006 Melbourne 2006 Melbourne 2006 Johor Bahru Men's singles Mixed Team Men's singles Mixed Team Men's singles Team Team Team Team Men's singles Men's singles Team Men's singles Men's singles Men's Singles Men's singles

World Championships

Asian Championship

BWF profile

Lee Chong Wei

Traditional Chinese

Simplified Chinese [show]Transcriptions

Datuk Lee Chong Wei (Simplified Chinese: ) (Pinyin:Li Zng Wi) (born 21 October 1982 in Bagan Serai, Perak[2]) is a professional badmintonplayer from Malaysia who resides in Bukit Mertajam.[3] As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 199 consecutive weeks from 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012.[4] He is the third Malaysian men's singles shuttler 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 ranking for more than two weeks. Lee is a silver medalist in both the 2012 Olympic Games and 2008 Olympic Games, thus becoming the first Malaysian to reach the final of the men's singles event and 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.[5] He repeated the achievement four years later in London, thus making him the most successful Malaysian Olympian in history.[6]
Contents
[hide]

1 Personal life 2 Career

o o o o o o o

2.1 20022007 2.2 2008 2.3 2009 2.4 2010 2.5 2011 2.6 2012 2.7 2013

3 Awards and honours 4 Achievements

4.1 Career finals (46 titles, 25 runner-ups)

5 References

[edit]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 the nod from his father, the coach began to train Lee after school.[7] Discovered by Misbun Sidek, he was drafted into the national squad when he was seventeen years old.[8] 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.[9]

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. [10] 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.[11] On 6 June 2009, Lee received the Darjah Bakti (DB) award, from Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, in conjunction with the Birthday of Seri Paduka BagindaYang di-Pertuan Agong, for his achievements in the 2008 Olympics.[12] He was in a relationship with Wong Mew Choo, his teammate.[13] In year 2009, Lee and Wong announced they are no longer together during the 2009 World Championships in Hyderabad, India. However, Lee Chong Wei announced his reconciliation with Mew Choo after winning a silver medal in 2012 Summer Olympics.[14] They tied the knot on 9 November 2012,[15]and have the first child, named Kingston in April 2013.[16] 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.[17] He was appointed as KDU University College ambassador on 31 July 2011.[18] Lee has hinted he could retire following the 2012 Olympics.[19] Lee's autobiography "Dare to be a Champion" was officially published on 18 January 2012.[20]
[edit]Career [edit]20022007

Lee picked up only one title in 2002 and 2003, the major achievement being, reaching the final of the 2003 Malaysia Open, his first final of a major tournament, where was defeated by Chen Hong of China.[21] Lee then secured two titles in 2004, the Malaysia Open and Chinese Taipei Open. Lee gained a spot for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In his first Olympics 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.[22] Lee scored another two titles in 2005, his second Malaysia Open title and 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 semifinal.[23] Lee won three titles out of six finals in 2006. He was crowned as the winner of the Swiss Open, [24] 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 1320 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.[25] Lee won Malaysia's two gold medals in the badminton event for 2006 Commonwealth Games in March, in both men's singles and mixed team event.[26] Lee reaches top spot twice in Badminton

World Federation's world rankings in 2006,[27] and he participated in the World Championships as top seed.[28] However, he was upset by Bao Chunlai of China in the quarterfinal despite Lee holds all win in previous meeting. The match was also marred by two controversial line calls that were not in favour of Lee. [29] The 2007 season saw Lee failing to reach the final for the first time in five years in Malaysia Open, he also suffered an early exit in five competitions afterward and only saw him bounce back and took the Indonesia Open crown, his first title since the 2006 Malaysia Open after reuniting with former coach Misbun Sidek from Li Mao.[30] His performance at the second half of the year was solid, as he achieved three titles in Philippines Open, Japan Open, and 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.[31] Lee won all matches he played in Sudirman Cup in June, despite Malaysia finished only fifth in the tournament.[32] Lee's lowlight of the year was in World Championships, despite the tournament 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 Indonesian's Sony Dwi Kuncoro.[33] 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.[34]
[edit]2008

Lee Chong Wei playing in the semifinals of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing

Lee kicked off year 2008 in success, capturing his fourth Malaysia Open title in five years.[35] However, Lee only captured his second title of the year inSingapore Open,[36] also the final tournament in his pre-Olympic preparations, just after five tournaments he took part, in Korea Open;[37] All England Open;[38] Swiss

Open;[39] Badminton Asia Championships;[40] and Thomas Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia where Lee helped Malaysia advanced through to the semifinal where he defeated Lin Dan to give Malaysia a 1 0 lead in its clash with defending champion China. However, Malaysia eventually lost 23 due to the defeat of its first doubles team in the vital final match.[41] 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,Kstutis Navickas in the third round,[42] and Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the quarterfinals.[43] He had a scare in the semifinals where Lee Hyun-il gave him a tough fight, but eventually Chong Wei was able to beat the South Korean and reach the final.[44] However, it was a one-sided final, as Lee was completely outplayed by Lin Dan and salvaged only 20 points, losing 1221, 821.[45] 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 China Open, but lost to Sony Dwi Kuncoro,[46] Taufik Hidayat,[47] and Lin Dan respectively.[48] In the French Open Lee was eliminated in the semifinals.[49] His coach, Misbun Sidek, cited the pressure of being ranked world number one to explain Lee's recent failure to capture a title.[50] Lee ended his last Super Series tourney of the year, the Hong Kong Open, with a sudden withdrawal due to a knee injury, conceding a walkover to Germanys Marc Zwiebler.[51] His last minute withdrawal led to the Chinese media to tag him as the "weakest world number one".[52] 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.[53] Despite Lee's recent difficulties in international play, he recorded his seventh consecutive victory at the National Badminton Grand Prix Final in Kedahon 12 December 2008, thus breaking the record of six consecutive titles set by Misbun Sidek.[54] 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.[55]
[edit]2009

Lee Chong Wei started 2009 season with his fifth Malaysia Open title.[56] He failed to secure his first Korea Open and All England Open title despite marching into the final.[57][58] 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.[59] Next, Lee surprisingly was defeated by Chen Long of China in the India Open.[60] He cited that the loss was due to food poisoning and insisted the authorities to improve the conditions before the World Championships.[61] In May, Lee helped Malaysia reached the semifinals of the Sudirman Cup, the first in national history, despite his unbeaten record in the tournament being blown out by Lin Dan.[62] He bagged another two titles in June, the Indonesia Open,[63] and the Malaysia Open

Grand Prix Gold,[64] despite failing to defend his Singapore Opentitle when he was surprised by Nguyen Tien Minh in the second round.[65] Lee kicks off second half of the season with defeat to Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the world meets,[66] but recovery to won the Macau Open in August.[67] He reached semi-final in the China Masters, but once again failed to beat his all time rival Lin Dan.[68] Then, Lee participated in the Japan Open, he only manage into second round of the Open,[69] before won the Hong Kong Open in November.[70] His inconsistency saw him tumbles down in the first round of the China Open.[71] In December, Lee defended his Super Series Masters Finals title, which saw the competition played without the top badminton players in the world.[72]
[edit]2010

Lee started the year with the title in all events he took part, his first treble in the Super Series titles. His first ever Korea Open crown,[73] sixth Malaysia Open,[74] and defeated Kenichi Tago to win the oldest and prestigious badminton championship in the world, the All England Open, his first one since he took part in 2004.[75] 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 (23) to Japan.[76] In the quarter finals, he beat Peter Gade, thus helping to secure Malaysia's place in the semi-finals.[77] 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.[78] In June, Lee participated in Singapore Open losing in the quarter-finals.[79] However, Lee bounced back winning the Indonesia Open,[80] Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold in July,[81] and Macau Open in August.[82] In late August, Lee suffered a shock exit in his another attempt for World Championships, beaten by Taufik Hidayat in the quarterfinals.[83] Misbun cited that the lost was due to the back injury he picked-up after the match against Rajiv Ouseph in the third round.[84] On 26 September, Lee beat his arch rival Lin Dan in Japan Open, the only title not grabbed by Chinese players in the tournament.[85] In October, he helped Malaysia to beat India to defend the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games mixed team event, then he also successfully defended his gold medal once again in the singles event a few days later.[86] 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.[87] In season end, He bagged the second consecutive Hong Kong Open title,[88] and third consecutive Super Series Master Finals title, where the tournament was held in January 2011.[89]
[edit]2011

In January, Lee won his seventh Malaysia Open title by defeating Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia in the final.[90] 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.[91] 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.[92] On Labour Day, he won his first ever India Open,[93] and also his third consecutive Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold title a week later.[94] Despite the fact that Lee won all his matches he played during the Sudirman Cup, Malaysia's journey ended in quarterfinals, after being beaten by South Korea 23.[95][96][97] In late June, he won the Indonesia Open, becoming the first non-Indonesian player to complete the hat-trick in the tournament.[98] 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.[99] In September, Lee also failed to defend his Japan Open crown after defeated by China's rising star Chen Long.[100] In October, he lost to Chen Long again in bid of winning his second Denmark Open title.[101] He won the French Open a week later.[102] This was followed by triple semi-finals exit in Hong Kong Open,[103] China Open,[104] and Super Series Master Finals.[105]
[edit]2012

Lee at the 2012 London Olympics

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.[106] 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.[107] In March, Lee lost in the All England Open when he bowed out in the second game after receiving medical help in three occasions. This also dashed Lee's hopes of becoming the first man to win three successive All England Open titles.[108] In April, he was defeated by South Korean Shon Wan-ho in the final of the India Open,[109] but retained his Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold title for the fourth time in a row in May.[110] Lee was out for three to four weeks after suffering an ankle injury during the Thomas Cup Group C tie against Denmark.[111] 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 Lng of Finland in rubber games for the first round,[112] and blamed pressure for close defeat.[113] In the second round, he eased to a victory against Indonesia's Simon Santoso,[114] before beating Kashyap Parupalli of India in the quarterfinals.[115] 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.[116] 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.[6] BBC Sport analyst Gail Emms said, "You couldn't have asked for any more from Lee Chong Wei."[117] He won the Japan Open and Denmark Open on his return since London Olympic Games,[118][119] but lost in the final of Hong Kong Open, only few days after the marriage.[120] Lee ended the year with the lost in opening match of the Super Series Master Finals and subsequently pulled out of tournament due to thigh injury. [121]
[edit]2013

Lee took the Korea Open title for the third time.[122] A week later, he captured his ninth Malaysia Open title, which broke the record of eight titles previously held by Wong Peng Soon.[123] Lee then lost in the final of All England Open, which he was disappointed with the performances during the tournament, despite marched into the final.[124][125] He then lost in the semi-finals of the Australia Open, to the young Chinese player Tian Houwei.[126]
[edit]Awards

and honours

Below is the list of awards won by Lee, also he was appointed as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2009.[127]
Date Awards Reason

5 April 2005

2005 National Sportsman[128]

Consistency and focus in game

29 April 2006

2005 Penang Sportsman[129]

Performance in the 2005 IBF World Championships and 2005 All England Open Badminton Championships.

18 November 2008

2007 Penang Sportsman[130]

12 December 2008

Malaysia's Male Olympian 2008[131]

The only Malaysian to win a silver medal in 2008 Summer Olympics.

2009

BWF Player of the Year[132]

23 March 2009 2008 National Sportsman[133]

12 June 2009

Winner of the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) awards[134]

9 August 2009 2008 Penang Sportsman[135]

2010

BWF Player of the Year[132]

17 October 2010

2009 Penang Sportsman[136]

12 December 2011

BWF Player of the Year[137]

15 December 2012

Olympian of the Year[138]

Silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics

[edit]Achievements

See also: Lee Chong Wei career statistics

[edit]Career

finals (46 titles, 25 runner-ups)

Outcome

Year

Tournament

Opponent in final

Score

2013

All England Open

Chen Long

1721, 1821

2013

Malaysia Open (9)

Sony Dwi Kuncoro

217, 218

2013

Korea Open (3)

Du Pengyu

2112, 2115

2012

Hong Kong Open

Chen Long

1921, 1721

2012

Denmark Open (2)

Du Pengyu

1521, 2112, 2119

2012

Japan Open (3)

Boonsak Ponsana

2118, 2118

2012

Olympic Games

Lin Dan

2115, 1021, 1921

2012

Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold (4)

Sony Dwi Kuncoro

1721, 218, 2110

2012

India Open

Shon Wan-ho

1821, 2114, 1921

2012

All England Open

Lin Dan

1921, 26 (retired)

2012

Malaysia Open (8)

Kenichi Tago

216, 2113

2012

Korea Open (2)

Lin Dan

1221, 2118, 2114

2011

French Open (2)

Kenichi Tago

2116, 2111

2011

Denmark Open

Chen Long

1521, 1821

Outcome

Year

Tournament

Opponent in final

Score

2011

Japan Open

Chen Long

821, 2110, 1921

2011

World Championships

Lin Dan

2220, 1421, 2123

2011

Indonesia Open (4)

Peter Gade

2111, 217

2011

Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold (3)

Bao Chunlai

219, 2119

2011

India Open

Peter Gade

2112, 1221, 2115

2011

All England Open (2)

Lin Dan

2117, 2117

2011

Korea Open

Lin Dan

1921, 2114, 1621

2011

Malaysia Open (7)

Taufik Hidayat

218, 2117

2010

Super Series Masters Finals (3)

Peter Gade

219, 2114

2010

Hong Kong Open (2)

Taufik Hidayat

2119, 219

2010

Asian Games

Lin Dan

1321, 2115, 1021

2010

Commonwealth Games (2)

Rajiv Ouseph

2110, 218

2010

Japan Open (2)

Lin Dan

2220, 1621, 2117

2010

Macau Open (2)

Lee Hyun-il

No match

Outcome

Year

Tournament

Opponent in final

Score

2010

Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold (2)

Wong Choong Hann

218, 1421, 2115

2010

Indonesia Open (3)

Taufik Hidayat

2119, 218

2010

All England Open (1)

Kenichi Tago

2119, 2119

2010

Malaysia Open (6)

Boonsak Ponsana

2113, 217

2010

Korea Open (1)

Peter Gade

2112, 2111

2009

Super Series Masters Finals (2)

Park Sung-hwan

2117, 2117

2009

Hong Kong Open (1)

Peter Gade

2113, 1321, 2116

2009

Macau Open (1)

Wong Choong Hann

2115, 2119

2009

Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold (1)

Chen Long

2116, 219

2009

Indonesia Open (2)

Taufik Hidayat

219, 2114

2009

Swiss Open (2)

Lin Dan

2116, 2116

2009

All England Open

Lin Dan

1921, 1221

2009

Korea Open

Peter Gade

1821, 2110, 1721

2009

Malaysia Open (5)

Park Sung-hwan

2114, 2113

Outcome

Year

Tournament

Opponent in final

Score

2008

Super Series Masters Finals (1)

Peter Gade

218, 2116

2008

China Open

Lin Dan

1821, 921

2008

Macau Open

Taufik Hidayat

1921, 1521

2008

Japan Open

Sony Dwi Kuncoro

1721, 1121

2008

Olympic Games

Lin Dan

1221, 821

2008

Singapore Open

Simon Santoso

2113, 215

2008

Swiss Open

Lin Dan

1321, 1821

2008

Malaysia Open (4)

Lee Hyun-il

2115, 1121, 2117

2007

Hong Kong Open

Lin Dan

219, 1521, 1521

2007

China Open

Bao Chunlai

1221, 1321

2007

French Open (1)

Bao Chunlai

2111, 2114

2007

Japan Open (1)

Taufik Hidayat

2220, 1921, 2119

2007

Philippines Open

Chen Hong

219, 2115

2007

Indonesia Open (1)

Bao Chunlai

2115, 2116

Outcome

Year

Tournament

Opponent in final

Score

2006

Hong Kong Open

Lin Dan

1921, 218, 1621

2006

Macau Open

Lin Dan

1821, 2118, 1821

2006

Chinese Taipei Open

Lin Dan

1821, 2112, 1121

2006

Malaysia Open (3)

Lin Dan

2118, 1821, 2321

2006

Asian Badminton Championships

Boonsak Ponsana

2112, 2116

2006

Commonwealth Games (1)

Wong Choong Hann

2113, 2112

2006

Swiss Open (1)

Xia Xuanze

158, 150

2005

Denmark Open (1)

Muhammad Hafiz Hashim 1714, 158

2005

Malaysia Open (2)

Lin Dan

1715, 915, 159

2004

Chinese Taipei Open

Kuan Beng Hong

154, 1510

2004

Singapore Open

Kenneth Jonassen

1517, 415

2004

Malaysia Open (1)

Park Sung-hwan

1513, 1512

2003

Malaysia Satellite

Kuan Beng Hong

157, 159

2003

Asian Satellite

Yeoh Kay Bin

515, 1315

Outcome

Year

Tournament

Opponent in final

Score

2003

Malaysia Open

Chen Hong

915, 515

Super Series tournament Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix tournament
[edit]References