Two of badminton’s biggest stars of their generation, Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan, received the ultimate honour of the sport on May 26 as they were inducted into the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Hall of Fame at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
It’s the paramount award in the badminton scene that they have added to their already impressive list of achievements.
Chong Wei has collected 69 career titles and holds the record for most weeks spent as the world number one: 349 weeks. The 40-year-old shuttler is also the most decorated Malaysian Olympic athlete with his three silver medals.
“Being in the Hall of Fame is good for me and my career. I hope it can encourage more young players and show them that if they work hard, they can also be elected for the Hall of Fame,” Lee said at Friday’s press conference.
Lin Dan of China is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion. Throughout his 20 year-long career, Lee won 66 tournaments, including the All England Open six times.
“I feel very, very proud to be inducted to the Hall of Fame. I am very lucky with all I have achieved,” Lin said during the press conference.
Rivalry in friendship
During their careers, Lee and Lin have competed with each other for 40 times between 2004 and 2018. The ‘Lee-Lin rivalry’ was considered to be one of the biggest in the sport with Lin holds the upper hand having to won 28 times.
“There has not been a rivalry like ours over the past twenty years, and we always matched each other at the top tournaments,” Lin Dan said.
“We really pushed each other to aim for greater heights. Each of us knew that we needed to beat the other to win a title and this made us highly motivated,” said Chong Wei.
Despite being rivals, both of them are known to be great friends together since they were at a young age.
Badminton World Federation (BWF) Hall of Fame
Chong Wei was the first Malaysian since Wong Peng Soon in 1999 to be inducted. Other Malaysians who had been inducted were Eddy Choong (1997), David Choong, Ng Boon Bee, Ong Poh Lim and Tan Yee Khan (1998).
Being inducted into the BWF Hall of Fame is the ultimate honour in badminton. It represents the sum of one’s achievements and contributions as being among the most important and transformative in badminton history.
A player or contributor must be nominated to be inducted, and then the BWF governance committee reviews their eligibility before the recommendation is submitted to the BWF council for final deliberation. Nominees have to be members of the badminton fraternity who have retired from the sport for at least a period of five years.
