The Malaysian crowd in Kuala Lumpur made their affection for Lee Chong Wei known loud and clear as they gave their favourite badminton star a rousing reception during the Malaysia Masters presentation ceremony.

In the season opening event on the BWF tour, Lee was present to hand over flower bouquets to the winner and runner-up of the men’s singles final. Former world No 1 Son Wan Ho was crowned Malaysia Masters champion with a 21–17 21–19 win over China’s Chen Long.

When it was time for the customary photographs to be taken on the podium, both the shuttlers invited Lee to join them.

Watch it here:

The legendary shuttler resumed his training recently, months after he had to stop playing to fight cancer.

He stopped playing in the middle of last year after he discovered he had cancer in July, forcing him to pull out of Asian Games and world championships.

Diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer, he had told The Star newspaper in December that he had to go through 33 sessions of proton therapy treatment in Taiwan, calling it “a nightmare”.

Despite his ordeal, the three-time Olympic silver medallist has said he is not giving up on his dream of playing at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games — his fifth entry if he were to qualify.

The 36-year-old shuttler has tried unsuccessfully to gain Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold medal at three consecutive Summer Games. His last shot at the Olympic title was at the Rio 2016 Games when Lee lost to China’s Chen Long in a gripping final.