Lee Chong Wei

Avi Taneja

November 11, 2022

Lee Chong Wei was arguably the most influential player in the history of badminton, sitting next to Lin Dan. But how much of an impact can a singular player make on the badminton world? It’s one compared to the two hundred twenty million people that are estimated to play badminton. It’s the second-most played sport in the world. So how can one player make so much of a difference in the world? It’s not about the player; it’s about his accomplishments. Lee Chong Wei is a Malaysian badminton player who appeared in the Olympics three consecutive times, winning silver each time. He has even come back from a seven-point deficit to advance into the Olympic Finals against his rival, Lin Dan. 

He has won an incredible amount of titles, with the amount sitting around a humble seventy titles. Lee was also ranked number one in badminton for three hundred and forty-nine of those weeks, one hundred and ninety-nine of them being consecutive. A bit of background information about Lee Chong Wei is he originally favored basketball in his young years. However, when he was eleven years old, his mom banished him from playing it because of the searing heat of the outdoors. His father took him to learn badminton, and from then on, Lee Chong Wei started developing into the prodigy he is now. Some of his most notable feats are his twelve Malaysian open wins, many of them being in a row. He was supposed to coach the 2020 Malaysia Olympic Badminton team but withdrew because of his health issues. 

Lee Chong Wei also had nose cancer and fought it. 

He retired in 2018 mainly because of it, but he also had a good run, and he knew it was well past his time to retire. He did beat nose cancer by getting Surgery in Taiwan and still to this day plays badminton. He has never given up and has always beat the odds, from cancer to playing injured and still winning the title. Lee Chong Wei skillfully mastered the art of badminton and shall never be forgotten in our hearts, and he will never be forgotten in the world of badminton as no normal man can achieve what he has achieved in his career. He is a reminder to all of us that we can overcome the barriers life throws at us to become the best we can possibly be, whether it is in academics or sports. Defy the laws and create new ones for yourself to defy again.