17 Important Life Lessons From Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan

A road to the top is covered in sweat, renunciations, and extremely hard work. Each player has ups and downs.

Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan are a pure example the sport is a competition. If you have a patient approach, one day all your hard efforts will be awarded a success!

Remember, there is always the light at the end of the tunnel!

Life is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Lin Dan was a lot better player in the early ages. In the Olympic Games 2008, the match looked more like a demolition since Dan won 2:0 with an ease (21-12, 21-8).

Lin Dan was winning Lee Chong Wei over and over. Three times during 2008 – Swiss Open, Olympic Games, and China Open – the score was 2:0 every time.

In 2012 Olympic Games, Lee Chong Wei was defeated with the score 2-1 (15-21, 21-10, 21-19) in the finals. He was so close to winning his toughest rival.

The same thing happened in 2013 World Championship final in Guangzhou (16-21, 21-13, 20-17).

But the moment of truth arrived in the Olympic Games 2016. Lee Chong Wei has finally defeated Lin Dan in the semifinal with the score of 2:1 (15-21, 21-11, 22-20).

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Never Give Up

If Lee Chong Wei gave up after losing the Olympic Games finals in 2008 and 2012, he would have never defeated Lin Dan.

You really need to have a super strong mind to recover after so many losses. Lin was so close few times, but the rival was just too hard.

Only champions like Lee Chong Wei fight until the last breath and leave their hearts on the pitch!

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Just Cry

Crying is for people. There is no need to hide – simply cry it out, you will feel better!

Lee Chong Wei was defeated many times by Lin Dan. Lin leads in their matches with the score of 27-12.

Lee Chong Wei was a runner-up in the Olympic Games in 2008, 2012, and 2016. He simply couldn’t restrain his emotions, especially in London.

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Lose But Still Be Respected

Despite his losses in the Olympic Games and World Championship, Lee Chong Wei earned a title Dato after winning a silver medal in Olympic Games in Beijing 2008. This was the first time ever a competitor from Malaysia reached Olympic Games semifinal.

The prime minister described Wei as a national hero of Malaysia.

During the World Championship in 2013, Lee Chong Wei suffered leg cramps in his third match against Lin Dan. Lee attempted to continue, but he was unable to.

He had no choice but to retire late in the third set, while the score was 1-1 and 20-17 for Lin Dan in the third set, and he was taken to the hospital.

Even today, Lee Chong Wei remains a national hero.

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Make 100% Effort In Every Single Badminton Match

Lee Chong Wei is an example of a pure warrior. His rivals were sometimes so dominant, but he was even flying through the air, not letting any easy point.

Even in his matches against Lin Dan, Wei was showing the reflexes and agility of a Siberian cat. Have you seen how Siberian cat explodes, jumps and changes directions?

That is the case with LCW. Not only that his agility is world-class, but his points may last for 2-3 minutes.

Lee Chong Wei gives the maximum of his possibilities through every single point, neglecting fatigue. You will never see him back down.

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Your Best Competitor Could Be Your Best Friend

Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan became the best friends. Despite their rivalry on the court, they are very close friends in real life.

Lee was a guest at Dan’s wedding in 2012 with Xie Xingfang. They even played friendly double matches together.

Two of them definitively like to spend time together and have fun outside of the court. One of their favorite topics is sports cars.

Their friendship lasts for more than a decade. Lee Chong Wei is even awarded a “China-Malaysia Star of Friendship” Award.

Despite both of them are now millionaires, it didn’t change their way of thinking and their bond is stronger than ever.

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Respect Your Competitor

There were many criticisms about Lin Dan’s arrogant and inappropriate behavior. Despite he had some incidents in the past, he has never told a single bad word about his Malaysian opponent.

Lin Dan respects Lee Chong Wei on and off the court.

In one of the interviews, Lin Dan said that people are only talking about his finals with Lee Chong Wei. He had only one message – he will give everything he has to reach the finals and face his Malaysian opponent.

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Learn from your competitor

There are many things these players could learn from each other. Despite their playing styles were pretty much different in the beginning, you may notice adoption of movements as the time went by.

If you take a look at Lee Chong Wei’s earlier matches, you will see amazing footwork, a heart of a lion, amazing will to win, but the lack of patience and concentration in the later stages of the game. Every longer rally was his weakness.

On the other hand, Lin Dan was unbelievably patient and focused, using every chance to smash and finish the point. His footwork was amazing in their last match.

Both players improved their qualities by taking the best from their opponent.

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Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose

Many top players would be demoralized by the series of winning streaks, but not Lee Chong Wei. Despite Lin Dan was winning him in many important competitions, starting from 2004, he never gave up and lost his faith.

Defeats were pushing Wei to improve his game, train harder, and win in the end.

He wasn’t demoralized, he was just becoming stronger and stronger. He had an iron will to win, and it paid off in the end.

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Be Proud Of Who You Are And Where You From

Lee Chong Wei plays for Malaysia, but he has Chinese descent. Born and raised in Malaysian Chinese family, Lee has learned to love and respect his country.

Lee kisses the Malaysia national flag designed on his shirt after almost every match.

Lee repeats his flag kissing ritual for a very long period of time.

His victory celebrations are very original, and that is the reason why people respect him so much.

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You Need The Desire To Win The Match

Until the year 2016, in every single match played on Asian Championships or Olympic Games, Lin Dan was the winner. But Lee Chong Wei has shown the desire which is very rarely seen in sports.

After many years, Lee finally won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8c312x18Lw

The match was very difficult, especially in the third set. But unlike in the previous matches, Lee Chong Wei was extremely patient, responsive, and he won many longer rallies.

Lee’s changes in the style of play, combined with his mentality, enabled him to win Lin Dan.

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Be Patient Along The Championship Journey

It took eight years to win Lin Dan! Eight long years…

If competitions with minor significance are excluded (Yonex All England Open 2011, Japan Super Series 2010, and Wilson Swiss Super Series 2009), the last significant tournament where Lee Chong Wei made to defeat Lin was Thomas and Uber Cup 2008.

After humiliations in Beijing 2008 and London 2012, Lee Chong Wei never lost his faith. Lee made a slight progress in London by winning one set against Dan. The match was very dramatic until the end.

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Always Set A Goal

In an Olympic interview, Lee Chong Wei mentioned if he is given a choice to defeat Lin Dan or win an Olympic championship, he chooses the former.

Wei finally ended sunk on his knees, and the main reason was a victory over his old rival.

He felt it was a magic moment in the Olympic games, despite the final was lost from Chen Long. Lee Chong Wei fulfilled his goal and revenged to Dan Lin for two Olympic final losses.

Lee set one more goal – Malaysia has never had an Olympic champion in badminton. He is hoping to fulfill this goal in Tokyo in 2020.

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Age Is Just A Number

The fight between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan is still in progress.

Despite there were rumors that Lin Dan’s withdrawal from Denmark Open 2017 might significantly affect his will to win in Tokyo, both competitors confirmed that the fight isn’t over yet.

Lin is 34, and Lee is 35 years old. But age is just a number, both players own very young spirit.

Who knows, maybe Malaysia will have an Olympic champ!

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Life Is Short, Make An Impact When You Are Young And Still Able To

Badminton is a very perspective sport. There are so many new challengers rising – Victor Axelsen (Denmark), Chen Long (China), Kidambi Srikanth (India), Son Wan Ho (South Korea)…

Both Lee and Lin agree that you have to use every single opportunity to make a success.

When you get older, some new players will have better performances and your job will be a lot harder.

You should be remembered for something.

Lin Dan has been Olympic champion two times, champion of the world four times and Asian champion four times.

Lee Chong Wei has been Asian champion once, three times second in the Olympic Games, and three times second in the world. Maybe it’s time for Malaysian champion of the world!

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Give Back To The Society When You Are Successful

Lee Chong Wei donated his racquet that was used in Malaysian Open 2014 to Badminton World Federation Equipment Donation Project. He has proved many times that he has a golden heart.

Chong said that charity projects were a great way to popularize badminton in his country.

When he heard about earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan, Lee Chong Wei decided to launch a charity project to help victims. He also put his All-England winning racquets and t-shirts on auction to collect additional money.

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Be Grateful To The Person Who Has Helped You

Lee Chong Wei has said many times that he has to repay his coach and mentor Misbun Sudek.

Lee stated that despite his coach is a family man, he was ready to give up everything and create a champion. Misbun emphasized the importance of few things in Lee’s brain – nutrition (please insert 15 badminton food article link), sleep, and focus on the mission.

Lee claims that Misbun is more than just a coach, he is like a father to him. If there was no Misbuk, he would never be able to rise after hard defeats.

Misbuk has been Lee’s biggest support throughout his whole career and Lee Chong Wei has shown his gratitude multiple times.

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