KUCHING, May 3 ― Badminton legends Lin Dan of China and Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia have been elected to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Hall of Fame for 2023.
They will be inducted at a ceremony on May 26 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
The pair were the most dominant men’s singles players of their generation.
Having begun their senior international career in the early 2000s, Lee and Lin went on to stamp their presence on the game until their retirements in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
A measure of their dominance is that between them, they contested a total of five Olympic and 10 BWF World Championships finals.
Lee and Lin set several records during the course of their long careers, with Lee finishing with 47 BWF Superseries/World Tour titles and was world number one for an amazing 349 weeks.
Lin was unrivalled when it came to the Major Championships, with two Olympic and five World Championships titles.
They were also vital to their countries’ fortunes at the team championships.
But it was not just in terms of tournament success that they will be remembered.
In hailing both players for their impact on the game, BWF president Poul-Erik Hoyer said: “Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan were among the foremost ambassadors of badminton over a major part of the last two decades.
“With their outstanding performances, they drew whole generations of fans to the sport. They both richly deserve to be inducted into the Hall of Fame,” he added.
The BWF Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be live streamed on BWF TV from 7pm. ― Borneo Post
