The loser is king - Lee Chong Wei

I thought this day would come, but it felt a little too soon when it really came.

I imagined Dato’s retirement, although sad, must be because he had done what he could and retired peacefully.

But the reality is that fate closed the last door like a prank when Dato rekindled hope.

Dato’s tears, in my opinion, are more regretful than sad.

There is no need to elaborate on Lee Chong Wei’s achievements. He had a long and strong career and won numerous open championships. Even before his illness, he was still the well-deserved number one men’s singles player in Malaysia. Of course, he also had a lot of runner-ups in major competitions that were often teased.

However, the performance and status of athletes are often not equal. Before Lee Chong Wei, Peter Gade never won a world championship in his career, but people still respect him. On the contrary, those outstanding athletes of the same generation as Peter Gade are often like shooting stars in the night, and no one remembers them after a single stroke.

Then, why is Lee Chong Wei remembered?

In terms of performance, he is not as good as Lin Dan;

In terms of talent, he is not as good as Taufik Hidayat;

In terms of viewing, content, and psychological quality, Lee Chong Wei is not perfect;

But people can remember him and like him. What they remember is his unremitting persistence and his consistent all-out efforts on the court.

Many people like to compare him with Lin Dan, but in fact, the gap between the two is much greater on the court.

Lin Dan started learning badminton at the age of 6, while Lee Chong Wei could only watch badminton on TV at that time.

When Lee Chong Wei started learning badminton at the age of 11, Lin Dan had already won the national youth championship and was waiting for the offer from the Bayi team at home.

When the two entered the badminton world, the development of badminton in the early 21st century and the huge differences between China and Malaysia made the fate of the two people even more shocked.

Responsibly speaking, most of Lee Chong Wei's professional career is his struggle against the entire national badminton team alone.

A few years after his debut, he has been the top singles player in Malaysia until he retired due to illness last year. Except for Huang Zonghan and Hafiz who may have impacted him in the early days, the rest of Zhang Weifeng, Liu Guolun and the so-called supernova Lee Zii Jia are not players of the same level as him.

When Lin Dan entered the national team, he had Chen Hong and Xia Xuanze as his seniors, followed by his peers, the "golden generation" Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin. After London 2012, Lin Dan's competitors in the team changed to Chen Long and Tian Houwei, and even Lin Dan's former sparring partner Du Pengyu rushed to the world's second place.

Such a depth makes the competition between Lin and Li naturally unequal.

In almost all competitions, Li Zongwei faces a round-robin battle, but in order to maintain his form, he has to be a model worker and almost always attend the competition, while Lin Dan can be a little more leisurely and selectively participate in competitions. Sometimes he can maintain his form by focusing on the monthly team competitions.

In addition to the depth of the players, the gap in the coaching team is even more obvious.

The Chinese men's singles coaching team led by Mr. Tang has been the strongest on the surface for a long time! They have established a complete set of files for all threatening players, and then extended a completely restrained tactical plan, such as "control the far net, use more flat shots, and use more shots until the fatigue period after 60 minutes" that once made Taufik miserable.

As for Lee Chong Wei, he can't even guarantee the basic stability of his coaching team!

Li Mao just promoted him to the first-class level and left. The Sidek brothers are good, but they are helpless to let him go further. As for Ye Chengwan, he came too late. Lee Chong Wei's technology was already finalized at that time. The only thing that could be changed was the quality of the net.

For a long time, the pattern of international men's singles was only two words-Lin Li! At that time, Gade was old, Taufik had retired, and players like Simon and the gambling king were not at the first-class level. At that time, the Chinese team's opponents did not have Momota and Anselong. There was only one person who made them afraid, that is-Lee Chong Wei.

Their understanding of Lee Chong Wei may be more thorough than Lee Chong Wei himself. Therefore, the only way for Lee Chong Wei to beat Lin Dan, or any player of the Chinese team, is to have a burst of physical, state, and mental strength - just like the semi-finals in 2016!

But the burst has a CD time. After a brilliant performance, the next thing is the ultimate regret of falling in front of the door of victory again!

Apart from the power behind them, I think the biggest difference between Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei is that Lin Dan's obsession with the championship can be very pure, because he has fulfilled his responsibilities to the country for 10 years, and the rest is his own challenge to himself.

But Lee Chong Wei can't do that!

He wants to win the championship himself...

The Malaysian Badminton Association also wants to win...

Malaysia wants it even more!

He has never been as pure in his love for the championship as Lin Dan.

When masters compete, they are often only a hair's breadth away, and every time, Lee Chong Wei is the one who carries more weight.

From 2011 to 2013, the hair's breadth away from the three finals was probably this hair's breadth of purity.

But it is precisely this impurity and this burden that makes Lee Chong Wei respected by more people.

As I witnessed at the Tianhe Stadium in 2013, when Lee Chong Wei collapsed, there was no laughter, no noise, no noise in the audience, but a tsunami-like roar:

"Lee Chong Wei! Lee Chong Wei!"

After every failure, many people would ask, was Lee Chong Wei crushed by pressure?

I dare say, definitely not!

And every failure, is it a regret?

Count it, how can there be no regrets in life!

Now seeing some scoundrels on the Internet forums begin to question Taufik Hidayat's magic, Lee Chong Wei's retreat will probably be picked out in a few years.

Fortunately, Lee Chong Wei's last battle was in the final against the fully-conditioned Momota.

For Lee Chong Wei, for us, we are all lucky to be born in this high-definition era; I looked through the most satisfying games in my heart, and Lee Chong Wei was always fighting - now he is still fighting in my heart!

I would like to dedicate this article to the best badminton player in my heart - Lee Chong Wei!