Lee and Lin have faced off totally 40 times, with Lin having a 28-12 lead in their head-to-head meetings. Throughout three generations, Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei have been by far the two most dominating players.
Many people believe Lin Dan to be the greatest player ever. This has prompted both the media and other players to laud him. Due to the size and significance of their rivalry with the badminton community, they have arisen “The Battle of Malaysia.”
Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei: Who is better?
About Lin Dan
On January 4th, 1975, Lin Dan was born in Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia. At the age of six, he began playing badminton with the help of his father. He made his international debut in the 1993 World Junior Championships when he was 12 years old. Chen Shun-Hsing of Taiwan defeated him in the quarterfinals.
He made it all the way to the semifinals of the 1995 World Championships before Malaysian Wong Peng Soon beat him. Lin Dan defeated Taufik Hidayat in the Olympic gold medal match in 1997, at the age of 20. He then became the first athlete from his nation to do so. He has now obtained four additional Olympic medals (two silver, two bronze).
In 1998, Lin Dan went professional after taking home his first international championship at the Malaysian Open. Since then, he has won nearly all significant competitions, including the coveted Thomas Cup, an annual competition between the United States and China/Hong Kong, which he has won three times.
The most memorable contests between Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei
The most memorable contests between Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei
One of the most notable contests between the two men, who both held the world number one ranking for protracted periods of time, was their Olympic title bouts from 2008 and 2012.
At Beijing in 2008, Lin triumphed in straight games. But Lee came agonizingly close to winning the gold in London 2012. Lee had a 19-18 lead in the decisive game until she unluckily missed a stroke that fell on the line.
When the air conditioning inexplicably failed mid-match and the Malaysian has to leave on a stretcher as he faced match point, Lee lost world title bouts to Lin in 2011 and then in southern China in 2013.
Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei : Their friendship
They were friends off the court and have a great deal of respect for one another. But the personalities of fiery Lin and soft-spoken Lee are completely different.
With many tattoos—unusual for a Chinese player—and a reputation as badminton’s bad boy, Lin, also “Super Dan,” strolled about the court with unwavering confidence.
Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei : Their friendship
The two-time Olympian and five-time world champion, who was sometimes the greatest badminton player in history, frequently encountered conflict. He had to deny hitting his coach following a rage outburst he had in 2008 during a practice.
Lee, on the other hand, was shy and humble. His modest demeanor, however, belied a dizzying array of courtside skills. And he was a talent with quick reflexes and once held the world record for the fastest smash.
Yet he had plenty of drama during the course of his 19-year career.
The former world number one was suspended after testing positive for a prohibited anti-inflammatory during the 2014 World Championships. He missed eight months of competition until officials finally accepted his claim that he took the drug accidentally.
