Personal life[edit]

In his early years, Lee favoured basketball, however his mother soon banned 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.[6]
Discovered by Misbun Sidek, he was drafted into the national squad when he was seventeen
years old.[7]
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.[8] For the same achievement, he was conferred with a Darjah Setia Pangkuan
Negeri (DSPN), which carried the title Dato' by Governor of Penang, Tun Abdul Rahman
Abbas on 30 August 2008.[9]
He was appointed as UNICEF Malaysia's National Ambassador in February 2009.[10]
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.[11] He was in a relationship with Wong Mew Choo,
his teammate.[12] 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.[13] They were
married on 9 November 2012,[14] and had two children, Kingston and Terrance, which were
born in April 2013 and July 2015 respectively.[15][16]
On 16 March 2011, Lee received Permodalan Nasional Berhad shares worth RM100,000
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's autobiography Dare to be a Champion was officially published on 18 January 2012.[19]

Career[edit]
20022007[edit]
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.[20]
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.[21] 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.[22]
Lee won three titles out of six finals in 2006. He was crowned as the winner of the Swiss
Open,[23] 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 2321 to secure the title.[24] 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.[25] Lee reached the top spot twice in the
Badminton World Federation's world rankings in 2006,[26] and he participated in the World
Championships as top seed.[27] However, he was upset by Bao Chunlai of China in the quarterfinal despite Lee winning at their previous meeting. The match was also marred by two
controversial line calls that were not in favour of Lee.[28]
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.[29] 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.[30] Lee won all matches he
played in the Sudirman Cup in June, despite Malaysia finishing just fifth in the tournament.[31]
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.[32] 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.[33]

2008[edit]

Playing in the semifinals of the 2008 Olympics

Lee kicked off 2008 with success, capturing his fourth Malaysia Open title in five years.[34] He
then took part in However, Lee only captured one other title that year, the Singapore Open,[35]
which was the final tournament in his pre-Olympic preparations. Other tournaments he took
part in were th Korea Open;[36] the All England Open;[37] the Swiss Open;[38] the Badminton
Asia Championships;[39] 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 10 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.[40]
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,
[41]
and Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the quarter-finals.[42] 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.[43]
However, it was a one-sided final, as Lee was completely outplayed by Lin Dan and salvaged
only 20 points, losing 1221, 821.[44] 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,[45] Taufik Hidayat,[46] and Lin Dan respectively.[47] In the French Open Lee
was eliminated in the semi-finals.[48] His coach, Misbun Sidek, cited the pressure of being
ranked world number one to explain Lee's recent failure to capture a title.[49]
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 Germanys Marc Zwiebler.[50] His
last minute withdrawal led to the Chinese media to tag him as the "weakest world number
one".[51] 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.[52]
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.[53] 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.[54]

2009[edit]
Lee Chong Wei started the 2009 season with his fifth Malaysia Open title.[55] He failed to
secure his first Korea Open and All England Open title despite marching into the final.[56][57]
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.[58] Next, Lee was surprisingly defeated by Chen Long of China in
the India Open.[59] He cited the loss was due to food poisoning and insisted the authorities
improve the conditions before the World Championships.[60] 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.[61] He won another two titles in June,
the Indonesia Open[62] and the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold,[63] despite failing to defend his
Singapore Open title when he was taken by Nguyen Tien Minh in the second round.[64]
Lee kicked off the second half of the season with defeat by Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the world
meets,[65] but went on to win the Macau Open in August.[66] He reached the semi-final in the
China Masters, but once again failed to beat his all time rival Lin Dan.[67] Then, Lee
participated in the Japan Open. He only managed to reach the second round of the Open,[68]
before winning the Hong Kong Open in November.[69] His inconsistency saw him tumble
down in the first round of the China Open.[70] In December, Lee defended his Super Series
Masters Finals title, which saw the competition played without the top badminton players in
the world.[71]

2010[edit]
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,[72] sixth Malaysia Open,[73] 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.[74]
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.[75] In the quarterfinals, he beat Peter Gade, thus helping to secure Malaysia's place in the semi-finals.[76] 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.[77]
In June, Lee participated in the Singapore Open losing in the quarter-finals.[78] However, Lee
bounced back winning the Indonesia Open,[79] Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold in July,[80] and
Macau Open in August.[81] 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.[82] Misbun cited

that the loss was due to the back injury he picked-up after the match against Rajiv Ouseph in
the third round.[83] 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.[84]
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.[85] 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.[86] At season's
end, he won his second consecutive Hong Kong Open title,[87] and third consecutive Super
Series Master Finals title, where the tournament was held in January 2011.[88]

2011[edit]
In January, Lee won his seventh Malaysia Open title by defeating Taufik Hidayat from
Indonesia in the final.[89] 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.[90] 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.[91]
On Labour Day, he won his first ever India Open,[92] and also his third consecutive Malaysia
Open Grand Prix Gold title a week later.[93] 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 23.[94][95][96] In late June, he won the Indonesia Open, becoming the first
non-Indonesian player to complete the hat-trick in the tournament.[97]
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.[98] In September, Lee also failed to defend his
Japan Open crown after defeat by China's rising star Chen Long.[99] In October, he lost to
Chen Long again in his bid for his second Denmark Open title.[100] He won the French Open a
week later.[101] This was followed by triple semi-finals exit in the Hong Kong Open,[102] the
China Open,[103] and the Super Series Master Finals.[104]

2012[edit]

Playing in the semifinals of the 2012 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.[105] 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.[106]
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.[107] In April, he was defeated by South
Korean Shon Wan-ho in the final of the India Open,[108] but retained his Malaysia Open Grand
Prix Gold title for the fourth time in a row in May.[109] Lee was out for three to four weeks
after suffering an ankle injury during the Thomas Cup Group C tie against Denmark.[110]
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,[111] and blamed pressure for close defeat.[112] In the second round, he eased to a victory
against Indonesia's Simon Santoso,[113] before beating Kashyap Parupalli of India in the
quarter-finals.[114] 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.[115] 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 2119, forcing Lee to settle for silver once more.[5]
BBC Sport analyst Gail Emms said, "You couldn't have asked for any more from Lee Chong
Wei."[116]
He won the Japan Open and Denmark Open on his return since the London Olympic Games,
[117][118]
but lost in the final of the Hong Kong Open, only a few days after his marriage.[119] 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.[120]

2013[edit]

Playing in the quarterfinals of the 2013 French Open.

Lee took the Korea Open title for the third time.[121] A week later, he captured his ninth
Malaysia Open title, which broke the record of eight titles previously held by Wong Peng
Soon.[122] 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.[123]
[124]

In April, he lost in the semi-finals of the Australia Open, to the young Chinese player Tian
Houwei.[125] He then won the second India Open title and fifth Indonesia Open.[126][127] 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.[128]
After the World Championships, Lee participating in four Super Series tournaments. First, he
took the Japan Open title for fourth time.[129] Then, he lost in the final of Denmark Open and
semifinal of the French Open,[130][131] and triumph again in the Hong Kong Open.[132]
Lee won record fourth Masters Finals title, the season ending Super Series tournament.[133]

2014[edit]
In January, Lee lost in the final of Korea Open to Chen Long, his fourth straight defeat by the
Chinese.[134] 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.[135]

Further, he won his third All England Open and India Open title respectively.[136][137] However,
he was stunned by Simon Santoso in final of the Singapore Open.[138] Lee won every match he
contested during the Thomas Cup campaign, Malaysia reached the finals, only losing to
Japan with a score of 32.[139]
In June, he won the Japan Open for the third consecutive year and fifth time overall.[140] He
lost in the semifinals of the Indonesia Open, this also ended his hope of nine straight Super
Series finals.[141]
In August, Lee came second for the third time at the World Championships, losing to Chen
Long of China in straight sets.[142] He again lost to Chen in the semifinals of Asian Games
team competition,[143] and lost to Lin Dan in semifinals of singles event few days later.[144]

2015[edit]
The Sudirman Cup was Lee's first tournament after serving an eight-month suspension for a
doping violation. He went on to win all three matches he played in the tournament.[145] He then
took back to back titles by winning the US Open and Canada Open.[146] Lee again had to settle
for the second at the World Championships as he lost to Chen Long in the final.[147]
After the World Championships, Lee endured three early round exits. First, in the second
round of the Japan Open,[148] followed by the qualifying rounds of the Korea Open,[149] and then
in the second round of Denmark Open.[150]
After three early round losses, Lee bounced back to win the French Open,[151] followed by his
first ever China Open title, thus making him the first ever men's singles shuttler to have won
all Super Series titles.[152] The following week, Lee won the Hong Kong Open.[153] However
Lee did not qualify for the Super Series Finals. Therefore ending the year with three back-toback titles.