Lee–Lin rivalry

Lee and Lin have played a total of 40 times, with Lin having the upper hand in their rivalry with a final head to head record of 28–12.[7] Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan are by far two of the most dominant players across three generations and many regard Lin Dan as the greatest of all time, leading to media and players alike to liken the period between 2006 and 2016 as the Lin-Lee era.[8][9][10]

As both great athletes, they are noted for their signature playing styles. Lee is famed for his incredible speed, counter-attacking prowess, crouch defence, recovery, deceptive net play and steep, hard-hitting jump smashes. Some have considered the cross-court smash as Lee's favourite shot despite its difficulty to execute. Lin, on the other hand, is famed for his patience, tactical awareness in adjusting to his opponents' style of play, sudden unleashing of huge and especially heavy attacks, sliding defence and all-round court play. Over the years, with the decline of fellow legend Taufik Hidayat and Danish great Peter Gade, Lee and Lin continuously adjusted their game to better suit the playing styles of each other, having already reached a level far beyond everyone else and thus began cementing their duopoly which lasted around a decade. During this time, they often swatted other competitors aside before engaging one another in major tournament finals. This continued until the emergence of eventual 2-time world champion and 2016 Olympic champion Chen Long and 2017 world champion Viktor Axelsen as Lin and Lee entered their 30s.

In their homeland, each hold a military rank, with Lee a Commander (Honorary) of the Royal Malaysian Navy Volunteer Reserve unit and Lin a retired Lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army Sports branch,[11] having been promoted from the ranks of Lieutenant commander and Major respectively, meaning they have the same seniority in terms of military rank.[12] In 2015, Lin Dan announced he was to leave the PLA's Bayi Badminton Club after a 20-year service due to strict military protocols prohibiting him from partaking in any commercial activities.[13]

They have contested in many major tournament finals and are currently the only two badminton men singles players who have contested in two Olympic finals consecutively, which saw Lin triumph both times to become the only man in history to defend his Olympic gold. Lin first won in Beijing 2008 in a one-sided final before the 2 men clashed once again 4 years later in an unprecedented but widely-anticipated repeat final at London 2012.[14][15][16] This time around, the match was much closer with Lee drawing first blood before Lin hit back to take the match to a decider. The game swung back and forth before Lee got his nose in front at the crucial end to take a 19–18 lead. However, as fate would have it, Lee lost his mental battle once again and produced continuous errors and gifting Lin his 2nd gold, becoming the only man in men singles' to defend his gold. As Lin celebrated wildly around the arena, Lee remained motionless and teared up before his coaches consoled him to leave the court. Lee's mental strength became a glaring talking point over the years as there were numerous times when he performed better than Lin only to lose at the very end. Detractors in Malaysia often disparage Lee's unfortunate lack of stamina towards the end with labels such as "pancut awal". Former men doubles' world champion Steen Fladberg, who is now a commentator, once remarked that he thought Lee was the best player in London 2012 but simply lost his focus at the end. Lee went on to contest a third consecutive final after defeating Lin in their colossal 2016 Summer Olympics semi-final.[1]

They have also contested two BWF World Championships finals, one Asian Games final and semi-final, similarly in the Badminton Asia Championships and four All England Open Badminton Championships finals where almost all matches were very close hard-fought three-setters.[17] Their 2011 World Badminton Championship match widely touted as one of the greatest badminton matches of all the time. In the semi-finals of the 2016 Rio Olympics, most possibly the last Olympic Games of both athletes' careers, Lee Chong Wei won against Lin Dan, in his third attempt on the Olympic stage, making Lee the second shuttler in any discipline of the sport in history to reach 3 consecutive finals after Fu Haifeng who had achieved the feat a day earlier in men doubles. In the rubber game of the match, the 2 men played to near perfection going point-for-point until 16 all when Lee pulled ahead for a 19–16 and 20–17 lead, thus, holding 3 match points. In dramatic fashion reminiscence of their monumental battle in the London 2012 final, Lin saved all 3, before a mistake gave Lee a fourth match point which he converted and sinking to his knees, the match was widely touted to look and feel more of a final then the actual final match. Videos uploaded onto social media captured the overwhelming and emotional response from Malaysians watching throughout the country, further highlighting Lee's megastar and hero status in his home country.[18] The two players then exchanged a special moment in their rivalry and exchanged shirts as they exited the court. The 2016 Rio Games marks an end in the badminton era dominated by Lee and Lin.[19] After the epic marathon battle in the semi-final against Lin, 34-year old Lee lacked the energy for another high-level match and fell in the final against Chen Long, prompting China's then-head coach Li Yongbo to remark that Lee would have already become a world champion if he had trained under the Chinese national team. He reasoned this was due to the fact that Lee had managed to come so close countless times over the years only to be denied by Lin at the very end despite training in much-less favourable conditions compared to the well-funded Chinese national team.[20][21]

Early on in their career, whenever Lin and Lee were to play one another, fans were extremely hostile towards their opposite number, often trading barbs, insults and even expletives. Occasionally, Lee had to remind fans that Lin was a personal friend of his and hoped that his fans would change their attitude towards his arch-rival. Over time, hostility became admiration, hatred became respect as fans realised that what they were witnessing was a once in a generation great sporting rivalry of the highest level and began cheering for both players, most evidently when they played in Malaysia and China. Most evidently, when Lee returned from his 8-month doping suspension to represent Malaysia in the 2015 Sudirman Cup held in Dongguan, China, he was given a rousing ovation when announced onto court to take on Lee Dong-keun. This prompted commentator, Gillian Clark, to quip, "Listen to the crowd here, it isn't a Chinese player, it's Lee Chong Wei!". Lee's coach Tey Seu Bock even labelled their rivalry 'limited-edition'.[22] However, this does not stop some hardcore fans who take every opportunity that arises to disparage Lee's accomplishments and status by comparing the two and will point out the fact that Lee, the perennial World No. 1, has never won an Olympic or world title whilst Lin has won both multiple times. Unfortunately, this usually leads to heated exchanges from both sides of supporters, especially on social media. Level-headed fans will try to calm things down by reminding that this once-in-an-era rivalry has entered its final chapter and everyone should be appreciating what the two men has showcased throughout their storied careers rather than be at loggerheads till the very end. Over the years, both Lee and Lin mentioned numerous times in interviews that they would never have become what they are without the other as their motivation. Nevertheless, the pair are good friends off court, having invited one another to each other's weddings and sharing a mutual love for fast cars and watches. Among the cars that Lee is known to own or have owned include a blue Lamborghini Huracán, blue Range Rover Sport, blue BMW M5, crystal grey Bentley Continental GT, a white Audi R8, a white Ferrari F430, a grey Nissan Skyline GTR, Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover, yellow Lamborghini Aventador and a BMW X6 besides the cars given to him by national automaker Proton, mostly bearing the car plate number of 6, including a 'BMW 6' currently registered to his M5.[23][24] Lin, on the other hand, has a Porsche Panamera, a grey Aston Martin DBS and also a black Nissan Skyline GTR among his vast collection of supercars.[25][26]

Most fans and professionals regard Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan as among the finest shuttlers the sport has ever seen, becoming huge crowd attractions and their battles dubbed the 'Lin-Lee War'. Hence, it is widely believed that they will eventually take their place in the uppermost echelon of badminton folklore alongside legends from the yesteryears such as Wong Peng Soon, Sir George Thomas, Eddy Choong, Erland Kops, Han Jian, Rudy Hartono, Liem Swie King, Zhao Jianhua, Morten Frost and perhaps the greatest in the history of the sport, Yang Yang, who are among the handful who have reached the peak of badminton, and inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame as well when they hang up their racquets for good.

Lee is the most successful player during the Super Series era from 2007–2017, amassing 47 titles. With the Super Series replaced by the new World Tour tournament system from 2018, Lee's record can no longer be surpassed. He also spent 348 weeks on the top of the world ranking, these including 199 consecutive weeks from August 2008 to June 2012.[27]

In March 2017, Lee is the oldest singles player in the Open era to win the All England Open at the age of 34 years and 142 days.[28]

At age 28, Lin achieves "Super Grand Slam" by won all 9 premier titles in the world of badminton: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Finals, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asian Championships, becoming the first and only player to achieve this feat.[29][30]

Lin became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic title.[31] He also became the first singles player contested the All England Open final 10 times.[32]

Lee Chong Wei is record title holder for several tournament: Malaysia Open (12 titles),[33] first non-Indonesian won Indonesia Open 6 times,[34] Japan Open (6 times).[35] Lin won a record 5 China Open and 6 China Masters titles. Currently, both are joint 5-time Hong Kong Open record titles.[36]

Although Lin often criticised for his brashness and arrogance on the court. They are friends on and off the court, use each other to improve themselves. Lee also attended Lin wedding in 2012, partnered together during exhibition matches.[37]

During the 2013 World Championships final, Lin checking on Lee when the latter suffered leg cramps. In the post match interview, Lin said "he is my enemy, but in the other mean, he also is my best friend in world of badminton, we are not an enemy like years before, we are cherish every moment we playing together, we are not young anymore and thanks to this great opponent".[38]

Lee make appearances during the 2019 Malaysia Masters final, by presenting the title to Lin.[39]

In April 2020, Lee described Lin as "He's a legend. His titles speak for themselves. We have to salute him." in his Facebook. He considers Lin as the greatest player also admitted that he obsessed to better than Lin.[40][41] Lee also defended Lin that he is no need to prove anything anymore as Lin has won all the major titles.[42]

The Lee–Lin rivalry has been hailed as the great rivalry in badminton sport, and even transformed the world of badminton, a rivalry happened when badminton needed an inspiration, thus also making the badminton sport popular.[43][44]

After the Rio Olympics semi-finals clash which Lee won, Lin wrote an emotional letter to Lee, although it was revealed fake and wrote by an unnamed fan, but it was described as touching by the media.[45]

Hours after his announcement of retirement from the sport, members of the media and players alike paid tribute to him.[46] His career-long rival, Lin Dan, wrote on Sina Weibo that he now has to "head into battle alone, as he no longer has a companion anymore (独自上场没人陪我了)", and shared a song titled "Don't Cry, Friend" (朋友别哭).[47]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lee Chong Wei.

• "Lee Chong Wei". BWF.tournamentsoftware.com.
• "Lin Dan". BWF.tournamentsoftware.com.