Lee Yong-dae (; ; born 11 September 1988) is a South Korean professional badminton player who had been successful in both the men's and mixed doubles. He reached world number 1 ranking with 4 different partners, Jung Jae-sung, Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong in the men's doubles, and Lee Hyo-jung in the 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 in 2018. Lee was inducted to BWF Badminton Hall of Fame on 9 December 2024.
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.OCBC/Yonex US Open, LEE YONG DAE
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.French Open International 2004, LEE YONG DAE 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 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 Jung Jae-sung and mixed doubles with Ha Jung-eun.
At the Asian Games, Lee and Jung became bronze medalist after losing the semi-finals to Luluk Hadiyanto and Alvent Yulianto of Indonesia in the individual men's doubles event. In the team event, South Korea 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 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 and Lee Jae-jin in the final of the German Open; in mixed doubles Lee and Lee Hyo-jung lost to Zheng Bo and Gao Ling of China in the semi-finals. Zheng and Gao went on to win the tournament.
At the Swiss Open, 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 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. They were defeated in the final by Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia, 19–21, 19–21. In mixed doubles, Lee reached the third round with Lee Hyo-jung. There they lost to Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of England in three games. With Jung Jae-sung, 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. Lee and Jung there lost to the eventual winners, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 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 and Yu Yang of China. In South Korea, 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 and Vita Marissa 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 and Lee Wan Wah 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 Zheng Bo and Gao Ling. A week later, Lee was victorious with Jung in the Swiss Open too. In mixed doubles they lost against He Hanbin and Yu Yang, who went on to the semi-finals.
At the Asian Championships Lee and Jung became winners, beating Nova Widianto and Candra Wijaya 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 final, which ended in a 3–1 win for China.
2008 Olympics Not having participated in the two Super Series events prior to the Olympics, supposedly because of their preparations for the Summer Olympics, Lee was disappointingly knocked out in the first round in Beijing with Jung. However, Lee and Lee Hyo-jung upset the badminton world and went on to get the gold medal in mixed doubles, becoming the youngest gold medalists in Olympic badminton.
2009 Lee Yong-dae started the year brightly when he and Jung Jae-sung 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 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 Zheng Bo and Ma Jin. A month later, they subdued teammates Yoo Yeon-seong and Kim Min-jung to clinch the Asian Championships 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 Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. 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 Jung Jae-sung, conquering China's top pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.
In August, Lee Yong-dae participated in the World Championships in [Hyderabad, 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 and Tan Boon Heong 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 and Carsten Mogensen, 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 and Zhang Yawen 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 Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir. 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 and Guo Zhendong of China.
Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung grabbed their first title of the year in Swiss Open Super Series after subduing compatriots Shin Baek-cheol and Yoo Hyun-young 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 Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan 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 Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen easily, 21–6 and 21–13.