Badminton legends Lin Dan (China) and Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) have been elected to the BWF Hall of Fame for 2023.
They will be inducted at a ceremony on Friday 26 May at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia.
The pair of them 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. Lee finished with 47 BWF Superseries/World Tour titles and was world No.1 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.
BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer hailed both players for their impact on the game.
“Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan were among the foremost ambassadors of badminton over a major part of the last two decades,” said Høyer. “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.”
Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei: The badminton rivalry that enthralled fans for over a decade
Lee Chong Wei: A near-perfect specimen of a badminton player
Dominant on court, a rebel off it: Lin Dan will be remembered as badminton’s biggest superstar
