Lee Yong-dae (; ; born 11 September 1988) is a South Korean professional

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player who had been successful in both men's and mixed doubles. He reached world number 1 ranking with 4 different partners,

Jung Jae-sung Jung Jae-sung (also spelled Chung Jae-sung; ; ; 25 August 1982 – 9 March 2018) was a South Korean professional badminton player who specialized in men's doubles. Together with his partner Lee Yong-dae, Jung spent forty weeks as World No. 1 in ...

Ko Sung-hyun Ko Sung-hyun (; ; born 21 May 1987) is a South Korean badminton player affiliated with Gimcheon City Hall. He is a former world number 1 both in the men's and mixed doubles. Ko is a BWF World Championships, BWF World Champion, two time Badminto ...

and

Yoo Yeon-seong Yoo Yeon-seong (; born 19 August 1986) is a South Korean professional badminton player. He specializes in doubles events and was ranked as high as No. 2 worldwide with his former partner, Ko Sung-hyun. The two also competed at the 2012 Summer ...

in men's doubles, and Lee Hyo-jung in mixed doubles. He won a total of 43 Superseries titles, 37 in the men's doubles, the most of any doubles player in one discipline, and 6 in mixed doubles. He was ranked world number 1 in men's doubles for 117 consecutive weeks with his last partner, Yoo Yeon-seong. After winning the 2016 Korean Superseries with Yoo, Lee announced his retirement from international badminton. He made a comeback to the international stage at the end of 2017, and started a new partnership with

Kim Gi-jung Kim Gi-jung or Kim Ki-jung (; or ; born 14 August 1990) is a South Korean badminton player. He competed at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's doubles event. Career In 2008, he won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships ...

in 2018. On 9 December 2024, Lee was inducted to BWF

Badminton Hall of Fame The Badminton World Federation (BWF) Hall of Fame is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It honours both players and other contributors to the sport of badminton. The BWF Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization with the goal to preserve, celebrat ...

Early life

Lee started playing badminton at his local elementary school at the age of 8, taking up the sport to lose weight. When he first began competing internationally, in 2003, he was a member of the Hwasun Middle School team, then he was with Hwasun Vocational High School until the end of his junior days in 2006, before joining the Samsung Electromechanics team in 2006. He joined the national badminton team of South Korea in 2003, at the age of 15 years.

Career

2003

Lee participated in the OCBC/Yonex US Open, where he played in both the singles and doubles category. In both events, he was ousted in the second round.

2004

Lee started off 2004 with the French Open International, where he played in the singles, men's doubles (with Jung Jung-young) and mixed doubles (with Kang Hae-won). In the mixed doubles event, the pair managed to reach the semi-finals, before losing to the Russians. He participated in several other tournaments without any major results. At the Vietnam Satellite, he reached the quarter-finals in the mixed doubles category, partnering Oh Seul-ki.

2005

Still struggling to find the right partner, he played several tournaments without getting any big results. However, he did reach the finals of the Cheers Asian Satellite in the mixed and men's doubles category. He won the gold medals at the Asian Junior Championships in the boys' doubles, mixed doubles and team events.

2006

In July, Lee repeated his achievements at the Asian Junior by capturing three gold medals at the

Championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

held in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he played a pivotal role to secure the boys' doubles and mixed doubles victories for South Korea and frustrate Malaysia in the mixed team final. In November, Lee made another gold medal hat trick at the World Junior Championships where he led team Korea to their first world junior championship, never dropping a single set in boys' doubles, mixed doubles and mixed team event through the tournament. Lee won two titles at the Thailand Open in the men's doubles with

and mixed doubles with

Ha Jung-eun Ha Jung-eun (; born 26 April 1987) is a women's and mixed doubles badminton player from South Korea. Ha was competed at the 2006, 2010 Asian Games, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Together with the Korean national women's team, they won the Ube ...

. At the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

, Lee and Jung became bronze medalist after losing the semi-finals to

Luluk Hadiyanto Luluk Hadiyanto (born 8 June 1980) is a badminton player from Indonesia, specialized in men's doubles and former world number one with doubles partner Alvent Yulianto. Early years "Lulu" as he is fondly called, was a member of badminton club P ...

and

Alvent Yulianto Alvent Yulianto Chandra (born 11 July 1980) is an Indonesian badminton player. Born in Glenmore, Banyuwangi, East Java, he has been playing badminton since he was 10 years old in a club named Suryanaga Gudang Garam Surabaya. Personal life On ...

of Indonesia in the individual men's doubles event. In the team event,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

lost to China in the final 2–3, thus gaining Lee a silver medal.

2007

In January, Lee and Jung participated in the Malaysia Open, the first ever

BWF Super Series The BWF Super Series was a series of Badminton World Federation#Grade 2, Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007 in badminton, 2007. Since 2011, ...

event. There they got through the first round but had to resign from the tournament due to injury. However a week later they blew away competition to take the first prize at the Korea Open. On top of that, Lee also won the mixed doubles with Lee Hyo-jung. Lee and Jung lost to

Hwang Ji-man Hwang Ji-man (; ; born 8 July 1984) is a badminton player from South Korea. Career Hwang started playing badminton when he was in Miryang elementary school, and when he was 17, Hwang was chosen to represent the National Junior team. Hwang play ...

and Lee Jae-jin in the final of the German Open; in mixed doubles Lee and Lee Hyo-jung lost to

Zheng Bo Zheng Bo (; born 26 November 1983) is a badminton player from Hunan, China. Career A doubles specialist, Zheng won men's doubles at the 2003 Indonesia Open with Sang Yang. Zheng and Sang also secured the winning point against Denmark in the ...

and

Gao Ling Gao Ling (; born 14 March 1979) is a Chinese former badminton player. Career Noted for her consistency, anticipation, forecourt prowess, and sporting smile, Gao is one of the most successful doubles players in the history of women's badminton ...

of China in the semi-finals. Zheng and Gao went on to win the tournament. At the

Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with ...

, Lee and Lee Hyo-jung took another title, winning the final in three games. For the rest of the year there were no good results in mixed doubles for Lee, mainly because he didn't participate or played with another partner. In men's doubles, he and Jung were eliminated in a disappointing second round. Lee participated in the

2007 Sudirman Cup The 2007 Sudirman Cup is the 10th tournament of the World Mixed Team Badminton Championships of Sudirman Cup. It was held from 11 to 17 June 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. China won for the sixth time and second in a row after beating Indonesia 3� ...

with the South Korea team. The team lost to China in the semi-finals with a score of 0–3. In July, after a period of disappointing results in men's doubles, Lee became runner-up with Jung at the Thailand Open, losing to Hwang Ji-man and Lee Jae-jin. Not much later, the pair went on to take the silver medal in the

2007 BWF World Championships The 2007 BWF World Championships was the 16th tournament of BWF World Championships (World Badminton Championships). It was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 13 to 19 August 2007. Host city selection Aarhus and Kuala Lumpur were the candid ...

. They were defeated in the final by

Markis Kido Markis Kido (11 August 1984 – 14 June 2021) was an Indonesian badminton player specializing in men's doubles. As a former world number 1, he won the discipline's gold medal at the 2006 Badminton World Cup, 2006 World Cup, 2007 BWF World Cham ...

and

Hendra Setiawan Hendra Setiawan (born 25 August 1984) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. He is an Olympic Games gold medalist, four-time World Champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, and two-time All England champion. With these achievements, Se ...

of Indonesia, 19–21, 19–21. In mixed doubles, Lee reached the third round with Lee Hyo-jung. There they lost to

Nathan Robertson Nathan James Robertson (born 30 May 1977) from Cotgrave in Nottinghamshire is a retired English badminton player who has achieved international success in both the men's events and the mixed doubles event. He was educated at Dayncourt School Spe ...

and

Gail Emms Gail Elizabeth Emms MBE (born 23 July 1977) is a retired English badminton player who has achieved international success in doubles tournaments. A badminton player since the age of four, Emms was first chosen to represent England in 1995 and r ...

of England in three games. With

, the rest of the year also resulted in quite disappointing achievements, as he failed to pass the quarterfinals in any major events, except in the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

. Lee and Jung there lost to the eventual winners,

Cai Yun Cai Yun (born 19 January 1980) is a former professional badminton player representing China. He is the 2012 London Olympic gold medallist and a four-time World Champion in men's doubles. He is regarded as one of the greatest men's doubles play ...

and

Fu Haifeng Fu Haifeng (born 23 August 1983) is a Chinese badminton player. Combining Fu Haifeng's impressive power with his regular partner Cai Yun's impressive speed, Cai and Fu have been one of the world's leading men's doubles teams since 2004. They ...

of China.

2008

To start 2008, Lee, together with Jung, disappointingly lost to an unseeded pair in the second round of the Malaysia Open. Mixed doubles went better for Lee and Lee Hyo-jung this time, finishing as runners-up. They lost to

He Hanbin He Hanbin (; born 10 January 1986) is a retired badminton player from China. Career A doubles specialist, He won men's doubles at the Austrian International tourney with Guo Zhendong in 2007. Most of his accomplishments, however, have come ...

and Yu Yang of China. In

, things went a bit better in men's doubles, achieving a quarterfinal. Lee and Jung lost to runners-up Luluk Hadiyanto and Alvent Yulianto of Indonesia there, but in mixed doubles Lee and his partner won the title against

Flandy Limpele Flandy Limpele (born 9 February 1974) is an Indonesian badminton player and coach. He competed in four Summer Olympic Games: Badminton at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta 1996, Badminton at the 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney 2000, Badminton at t ...

and

Vita Marissa Vita Marissa (born 4 January 1981) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. Career Marissa competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in mixed doubles with partner Nova Widianto. They had a bye in the first round and defeated Robert ...

of Indonesia. More than a month later, Lee and Jung came back with a bang to win the 2008 All England Open, beating

Choong Tan Fook Choong Tan Fook (born 6 February 1976) is a former badminton player from Malaysia. Choong is currently coaching the Hong Kong badminton team. Career overview Choong made his debut in Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney. Partnered with Lee Wan ...

and

Lee Wan Wah Lee Wan Wah (, born 24 November 1975) is a former badminton player from Malaysia. He is currently the Japan junior team coach. Career overview Lee made his debut in Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney. Partnered with Choong Tan Fook, they adva ...

in a thrilling semi-final (coming back from a 16–20 deficit in the third game) and Hwang Ji-man and Lee Jae-jin, also from Korea, in the final. In mixed doubles with Lee Hyo-jung, they lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners

and

. A week later, Lee was victorious with Jung in the

too. In mixed doubles they lost against He Hanbin and Yu Yang, who went on to the semi-finals. At the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...

Lee and Jung became winners, beating

Nova Widianto Andreas Nova Widianto (born 10 October 1977) is an Indonesian former badminton player, and now works as a mixed doubles badminton coach in Malaysia. After ended his duty as an Indonesian mixed doubles national coach, he moved to Malaysia joining ...

and

Candra Wijaya Rafael Candra Wijaya (; born Tan Chia Liang, 16 September 1975) is an Indonesian badminton player. Career Wijaya started his career in badminton at the age of five, motivated by his brother Indra Wijaya and later joined a club in Cirebon. His ...

of Indonesia in the final. Lee and Jung pair were the only ones to score a point for South Korea against China in the

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes referred as World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships h ...

final, which ended in a 3–1 win for China.

2008 Olympics

Not having participated in the two

Super Series The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on the NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception ...

events prior to the Olympics, supposedly because of their preparations for the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, Lee was disappointingly knocked out in the first round in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

with Jung. However, Lee and Lee Hyo-jung upset the badminton world and went on to get the gold medal in

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis, and badminton (where it is known ...

, becoming the youngest gold medalists in Olympic badminton.

2009

Lee Yong-dae started the year brightly when he and

won the Malaysia Open. In the Korea Open Super Series, Lee won the mixed doubles title with Lee Hyo-jung, while he and Jung reached the final. However, as Jung had to join the military service for two months, Lee paired with

Shin Baek-cheol Shin Baek-cheol (; born 19 October 1989) is a mixed and men's doubles badminton player from South Korea. He is a World, Asian and World Junior Champions, as well a gold medalists in the Asian Games and Summer Universiade. Career Shin starte ...

for the German Open and claimed the title. In the Swiss Open Super Series, Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung reached the mixed doubles final but failed to capture the trophy as they lost to China's

and

Ma Jin Ma Jin (; born 7 May 1988) is a badminton player from China who specialises in women's and mixed doubles. She partnered Wang Xiaoli in women's doubles and excelled in the category until 2010 when both players are split after China failed to defe ...

. A month later, they subdued teammates

and Kim Min-jung to clinch the

title. In the Sudirman Cup on May 10–17, Lee Yong-dae brought South Korea to the final to meet defending champion China. Lee won in both the men's doubles and mixed doubles events. However, in the final, he and Lee Hyo-jung lost to Zheng Bo and Yu Yang, while a few hours later he and Jung Jae-sung also lost to

and

. China then won the cup for the third consecutive time. In June, Lee Yong-dae played in the Singapore Open Super Series, but he did not win the title. In Indonesia a week later, he reached both the finals of men's doubles and mixed doubles event. Again, he and Lee Hyo-jung were defeated by Zheng Bo and Ma Jin, the Chinese pair who beat them in Singapore semi-final. Happily, he took the men's doubles title with

, conquering China's top pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. In August, Lee Yong-dae participated in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in yderabad, India. Unfortunately, in the mixed doubles, he and Lee Hyo-jung, who were the first seeds, lost to Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl">Thomas Laybourn">yderabad, India. Unfortunately, in the mixed doubles, he and Lee Hyo-jung, who were the first seeds, lost to Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark in the semi-final, who later became the champions. He had a better run with Jung Jae-sung in the men's doubles, reaching the final, but lost to Chinese pair Cai and Fu. In November, after a two-month absence due to injury, Lee Yong-dae returned to play in Hong Kong Open. Though he and Lee Hyo-jung lost in the first round, he fared better in the men's doubles with Jung Jae-sung. In the final, they defeated Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark. Only a week later, Lee successfully defended his two titles in China Open Super Series. He and Lee Hyo-jung beat Zheng Bo and Ma Jin in the mixed doubles final. With Jung, he defeated

Koo Kien Keat Koo Kien Keat (; born 18 September 1985) is a Malaysian former professional badminton player. He succeeded in both men's and mixed doubles but is best known for his partnership with Tan Boon Heong with whom, he reached a career high ranking ...

and

Tan Boon Heong Tan Boon Heong (, born 18 September 1987) is a former World No.1 Malaysian professional badminton player in the men's doubles event. Career 2004-2006 Tan was previously paired with Hoon Thien How, with whom he won the World Junior Cham ...

in men's doubles final. In December, Lee and Jung participated in Superseries Finals in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Unbelievably, they did not drop a single set from the group stage to the final. In the final, they outclassed Denmark's

Mathias Boe Mathias Boe (born 11 July 1980) is a Danish former badminton player. He was the gold medalist at the 2015 European Games, two time European champions winning in 2012 and 2017, and the silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Boe was a part ...

and

Carsten Mogensen Carsten Mogensen (born 24 July 1983) is a former badminton player from Denmark. He was the gold medalist at the Badminton at the 2015 European Games, 2015 European Games, two time European Badminton Championships, European champions winning in 2 ...

, whom they had subdued in the group stage.

2010

On January 17, Lee Yong-dae successfully started the 2010 year by winning Korea Open Super Series in Seoul with Jung Jae-sung. In the final, the top seeds defeated Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China 21–11, 14–21, and 21–18. However, in the mixed doubles, Lee who paired with Lee Hyo-jung were subdued 13–21 and 16–21 by Chinese pair

Tao Jiaming Tao Jiaming (; born 25 October 1985) is a badminton player from China. He was the gold medalists at the 2009 East Asian Games in the mixed doubles and men's team events. Tao Jiaming achieved his first major results in 2010 when he reached the m ...

and

Zhang Yawen Zhang Yawen (; born 9 March 1983) is a badminton player from China. Career Zhang has specialized in women's doubles and mixed doubles, earning numerous international titles in both events. At various times she has partnered either Zhang Dan, ...

in the first round. The same pair defeated Lee and Lee in the second round of Malaysia Open a week later without a match. In March's All England Championship, Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung reached the semi-finals, playing

and

Liliyana Natsir Liliyana Natsir (born 9 September 1985) is an Indonesian badminton player who specialized in doubles. She is one of the standout front court player, with dexterousness and skill in controlling and executing the shuttlecock. Natsir has tremendous ...

. The third seeds lost to the Indonesian pair 16–21, 21–18, and 8–21. With Jung Jae-sung in the men's doubles, Lee only made it to the quarter-finals, defeated 18–21, 10–21 by

Xu Chen Xu Chen (; born 29 November 1984) is a badminton player from China. In 2010, he (along with his partner Guo Zhendong) was ranked within the top 10 men's badminton doubles in the world. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the mixed doubl ...

and

Guo Zhendong Guo Zhendong (; born 4 August 1984) is a badminton player from China. , he (along with his partner Xu Chen) was ranked within the top 10 male badminton doubles teams in the world. He competed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. Career A men's ...

of China. Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung grabbed their first title of the year in Swiss Open Super Series after subduing compatriots

and

Yoo Hyun-young Yoo Hyun-young (; born 3 January 1990) is a badminton player from South Korea. Her first big result internationally came when, at the age of 16, she partnered Lee Yong-dae to win the mixed doubles title at the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships ...

in straight sets, 21–14 and 21–18. Lee Yong-dae was absent from the Thomas Cup due to injury. However, his comeback was successful as he and Jung Jae-sung won the first tournament they played after the injury, Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold. The third seeds beat compatriot Cho Gun-woo and Kwon Yi-goo. In the Asian Games in November, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung helped South Korea men's team to reach the final. They beat Chinese Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in the final, yet Korea was failed to win the gold medal as China downed Korea 3–1. For the individual event, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung gained the bronze medal after beaten by Indonesia's

and

in the last four.

2011

Lee Yong-dae started the 2011 season with a not-so-satisfying result in the 2010 Superseries Finals in Taiwan as he and Jung Jae-sung finished as runner-up. However, their disappointment disappeared after they became the first winner of Korea Open Super Series Premier in January. In the final, they conquered top-seeded Denmark's

and

easily, 21–6 and 21–13. With the retirement of Lee Hyo-jung, Lee has now paired with

in the mixed doubles. They won the US Open Grand Prix Gold in July with a 21–19, 21–13 win over fifth-seeded

Chen Hung-ling Chen Hung-ling (; born 10 February 1986) is a Taiwanese former badminton player. Chen Hung-ling is a doubles specialist. His best results have come with Cheng Wen-hsing in the mixed doubles, but he routinely competes in the men's doubles with ...

and Cheng Wen-hsing of Chinese Taipei, also won the men's doubles with

beating

Howard Bach Howard Bach (born February 22, 1979) is a Vietnamese-American male badminton player from the United States. He was the 2005 world champion in the men's doubles with Tony Gunawan. Early life He was born in Vietnam, Howard Bach came to the U.S. ...

and

Tony Gunawan Tony Gunawan (; born April 9, 1975) is an Indonesian-born American former badminton player. He gained several international achievements for Indonesia and later for the United States, including an Olympic gold medal and world champion title. Ca ...

of United States in the final. The next week, he participated in the Canada Open at the Richmond Olympic Oval. With Ko, he won the title. However, in the mixed doubles, Lee and his partner, Ha Jung-eun, lost to qualifier Liu Cheng and

Luo Ying Luo Ying (; born 11 January 1991) is a Chinese badminton player. She specializes in doubles and partnered with her twin sister, Luo Yu. The twins competed at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics but did not advance to the knock-out stage after placing ...

in the second round. In September, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung won

China Masters The China Masters (), formerly known as Fuzhou China Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in China. It became part of the BWF Super Series tournaments in 2007. In 2014 the level of the tournament was downgraded to BWF Grand Prix Gold beca ...

title after defeating China's Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21–17, 21–10. Lee also played in Japan Open, pairing with Ko Sung-hyun again, but they lost in the quarter-finals against Indonesia's Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan. In October, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung once again defeated Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21–16, 21–17 to win Denmark Open Super Series Premier. Lee and Jung were again victorious against Cai and Fu in three sets, 14–21 21–15 21–11, to win the French Super Series title.

2012

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung didn't start off the year so well with a loss in their home game at the 2012 Korea Open Super Series Premier losing to Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in three sets, 18–21 21–17 21–19. In German Open, Lee and Jung reached the final but lost to unseeded Chinese pair,

Hong Wei Hong Wei (; born 4 October 1989) is a Chinese professional badminton player. He competed at the Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 Rio in the Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's doubles, men's doubles event, and placed four ...

and

Shen Ye Shen Ye (; born 11 March 1987) is a male Chinese badminton player. Achievements Asian Championships ''Men's doubles'' Summer Universiade ''Men's doubles'' World Junior Championships ''Boys' doubles'' Asian Junior Championships ...

. However, they managed to win against Cai and Fu again in March to win their second

All England Open The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premie ...

title with a 21–23, 21–9, and 21–14 victory. In June, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung won their second Indonesia Open title after defeating Danish Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 23–21, 19–21, and 21–11. His record against the Danish players was good but unfortunately, in their last meeting in 2012 in the semi-final of

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

was won by the Danish players in 3 thrilling sets, breaking Koreans' hope to take the gold medals. Instead they had to be satisfied with bronze medals. After the 2012 Olympic Games, South Korean national team coach, Kim Joong-soo, decided to pairing Lee with

focusing in the men's doubles.

2013

Lee Yong-dae started the year with his new partner

winning the Korea Open against Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 19–21, 21–13, 21–10. They then entered the Malaysia Open and placed second losing to Indonesian pairs

Mohammad Ahsan Mohammad Ahsan (born 7 September 1987) is an Indonesian retired badminton player affiliated with Djarum club who specializes in the men's doubles. He is a three-time World Champion, three-time season ending finals champion, and Asian Games go ...

and

15–21, 13–21. After the Malaysian Open, the pair failed to perform losing 14–21, 14–21 to

Liu Xiaolong Liu Xiaolong (; born 12 May 1988) is a Chinese badminton player who is a doubles specialist. A left handler, he is the former winner of the All England Championships. He was part of China winning team at the 2013 Sudirman Cup. He announced hi ...

and

Qiu Zihan Qiu Zihan (; born 17 January 1991) is a Chinese badminton player who is a doubles specialist. He was part of China winning team at the 2013 Sudirman Cup. Teamed-up with Liu Xiaolong, he won the 2013 All England Open and a silver medal at the ...

of China in the quarter-finals of the German Open. A week later, the pair lost again in round one of the

to unseeded German Pair

Ingo Kindervater Ingo Kindervater (born 1 January 1979) is a retired badminton player from Germany and now the Head of Performance for Badminton Scotland. Career Ingo was the men's doubles bronze medallist at the 2008 European Championships partnered with Krist ...

and Johannes Schoettler 21–23, 18–21. At the India Open in April, the pair lost in the final to Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan of China 20–22, 18–21. After a one-year partnership, Lee Yong-dae and Ko Sung-hyun split and Lee paired with current world #8 and Ko's former partner

Yoo Yeon-Seong Yoo Yeon-seong (; born 19 August 1986) is a South Korean professional badminton player. He specializes in doubles events and was ranked as high as No. 2 worldwide with his former partner, Ko Sung-hyun. The two also competed at the 2012 Summer ...

. This partnership won two consecutive tournaments 2013 Denmark Super Series Premier and China Open.

2014

In January, Lee Yong-dae and Kim Gi-jung were banned for a year by the

BWF BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling promotion. * British Wrestling ...

from playing any international tournament due to their absence during a drug test. However, after further investigation, the ban was lifted several months later due to lack of evidence and claims that their absence was due to a misunderstanding with the Badminton Association of Korea. Lee immediately returned to the badminton scene in May by contributing to the national squad at the

2014 Thomas Cup The 2014 Thomas & Uber Cup was the 28th tournament of the Thomas Cup and 25th tournament of the Uber Cup, the badminton team championships for men and women respectively. It was held on 18–25 May 2014 at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Del ...

. South Korea came in second to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in the group stage but eventually lost 2–3 to Indonesia in the quarter-finals. In June, Lee and his partner,

consecutively won 3 Superseries titles in 3 weeks which were the Japan Open, Indonesian Open and

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

. This made the pair go up two spots in the world rankings from No. 4 to No. 2. They are currently ranking No. 1 in the world. In 2014 World Championships men's doubles final, Lee and Yoo Yeon-Seong surprisingly lost to their compatriots Ko Sung Hyun and

20–22, 23–21, 18–21. Therefore, Lee won his third silver medal in World Championships.

2015

Lee Yong-dae had a bright year in 2015 despite a slow start to the year. He won a total of 6 Superseries titles, 4 consecutively, namely Australia, Japan, Korea, Denmark, France and Hong Kong with partner Yoo Yeon Seong, and were top seeds for the Dubai Superseries finals, despite losing to Indonesian rivals Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the semi-finals.

2016

Lee Yong-dae and partner Yoo Yeon-seong started off the year at the 2016 German Open Grand Prix Gold and lost to compatriots Ko Sung-hyun and Shin Baek-cheol in the finals. They reached the semi-finals at the

2016 All England Super Series Premier The 2016 All England Super Series Premier was the first Super Series tournament of the 2016 BWF Super Series. The tournament took place in Birmingham, England, from 8 to 13 March 2016 and had a total purse of $550,000.Vladimir Ivanov and

Ivan Sozonov Ivan Andreyevich Sozonov (; born 6 July 1989) is a Russian badminton player. He competed for Russia at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Summer Olympics. His current partner is Vladimir Ivanov. The duo's victories at the 2014 European Championships and ...

, who went on to take their first Super Series title. They also reached the semi-finals stage of the

2016 Malaysia Super Series Premier The 2016 Malaysia Super Series Premier was the third super series tournament of the 2016 BWF Super Series. The tournament took place in Shah Alam, Malaysia from April 5–April 10, 2016 and had a total purse of $550,000.2016 Singapore Super Series The 2016 Singapore Super Series was the fourth Super Series tournament of the 2016 BWF Super Series. The tournament takes place in Singapore from April 12–17, 2016 with a total purse of $350,000.Kim Gi-jung Kim Gi-jung or Kim Ki-jung (; or ; born 14 August 1990) is a South Korean badminton player. He competed at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's doubles event. Career In 2008, he won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships ...

and Kim Sa-rang, and Chinese pair

and Zhang Nan, respectively. Both pairs went on to win the tournaments. Lee and Yoo won their first title of 2016 at the

against Kim Gi-jung and Kim Sa-rang, and their second at the

against unseeded Chinese pairing of

Li Junhui Li Junhui (, born 10 May 1995) is a Chinese badminton player. He was the gold medalist at the 2018 World Championships in the men's doubles event partnered with Liu Yuchen, two times won the gold medal at the Asian Championships in 2017 and 20 ...

and

Liu Yuchen Liu Yuchen ( zh, s=刘雨辰, p=Liú Yǔchén, born 25 July 1995) is a Chinese badminton player. He was the men's doubles World Champion in 2018, two-time Asian Champion in 2017 and 2018, and also a silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics p ...

. They then contested the 2016 Thomas Cup representing Korea, and won three out of four matches they played, their only loss coming from eventual finalists, Indonesia's Ahsan and Setiawan. Lee and Yoo then won their first Superseries title of the year, and their third in total, at the Indonesia Open, beating China's fifth seeds

Chai Biao Chai Biao (; born 10 October 1990) is a Chinese professional badminton player. Chai has concentrated on men's doubles for the majority of his senior career in badminton. His most successful partnership was with Hong Wei: together they reached the ...

and

in the final. They represented Korea at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

as the top seeds, but crashed out in the quarter-finals to unseeded Malaysian pair

Goh V Shem Goh V Shem (; born Goh Wei Shem; 20 May 1989) is a Malaysian badminton player in the doubles event. He was partnered with Tan Wee Kiong after their outstanding performance at the 2014 Thomas Cup. Together, Goh and Tan won the gold medal fo ...

and

Tan Wee Kiong Tan Wee Kiong (; born 21 May 1989) is a Malaysian badminton player in the doubles event. He had a partnership with Goh V Shem, which began at the 2014 Thomas Cup. Together, Tan and Goh won the gold medal in the men's doubles and the mixed t ...

which was their second losses in 9 meetings with the Malaysian pair. Lee announced that he would retire following the 2016 Summer Olympics, with his last tournament being the Korea Open in September in which he won alongside his partner Yoo Yeon-seong against the Chinese Li and Liu pair.

2018

Lee Yong-dae made a comeback in the men's doubles and partnered up with

, and won the titles of

Spain Masters The Spain Masters () is an annual badminton tournament held in Spain. This tournament is part of the BWF World Tour tournaments and is leveled in BWF World Tour Super 300. Venue & host city * 2018–2020: Pavelló de la Vall d'Hebron, Barcelon ...

and Macau Open.

2020

Lee began the 2020 season by winning the

Malaysia Masters The Malaysia Masters () is an annual badminton tournament held in Malaysia that began in 2009. The total prize money is currently US$475,000. Until 2017, the tournament was part of the Grand Prix Gold series. BWF categorised Malaysia Masters ...

with Kim Gi-jung. The duo claimed the title after beating third seeded Chinese pair

and

in the final in two straight games.

Personal life

Lee's gold medal win at the 2008 Olympics, his first appearance at the Olympic Games, propelled him from relative obscurity to national fame. He has since made several appearances on the sports-themed variety show '' Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education''. Lee start dating actress Byun Soo-mi in 2011 and went public with their relationship in 2012. The two met at a badminton event hosted by Byun's father. On February 8, 2017, Lee announced they were engaged and planned to have a small private wedding ceremony. On April 10, 2017, their daughter Lee Ye-bin was born, and her growth was documented in the new KBS's reality show '' Pot Stand'', as it was named after the books used to put under the hot pots. The couple decided to write a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

of their private lives and Ye-bin's growth and development. In December 2018 however, they filed for divorce, due to "irreconcilable differences".

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

BWF World Championships

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Games

''Men's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Summer Universiade

''Men's doubles''

World Junior Championships

''Boys' doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Junior Championships

''Boys' doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

BWF World Tour (3 titles)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

(BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Men's doubles''

BWF Superseries (43 titles, 18 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

(BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year. ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :

BWF Superseries Finals The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series ...

tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament :

BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, S ...

tournament

BWF Grand Prix (16 titles, 11 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the

BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold The BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was run from 2007 to 2017. Features Prize money A Grand Prix Gold tournament offered minimum prize money of US$ ...

. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

(BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006. ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series/Satellite (6 titles, 2 runners-up)

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

Filmography

Television series

Television Show

References

External links

*
archive
*
Lee Yong Dae
at BadmintonLink.com (archived) * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Yong-dae 1988 births Living people People from Hwasun County Sportspeople from South Jeolla Province South Korean male badminton players Badminton players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2006 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2010 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Korea Summer World University Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade World No. 1 badminton players South Korean Buddhists South Korean badminton commentators 21st-century South Korean sportsmen