The Greatest of All — Lee Chong Wei
I have read about quite a few athletes, followed some, inspired by many but most influencing of them, for me, has been Lee Chong Wei.
Many of us would have heard or read about famous players and athletes like Messi, Ronaldo from football, Federer, Djokovic in Tennis, Kipchoge, Bekele in marathons, Michael Phelps swimming and many more. Each one, best in their field, inspiring — a hell lot of, each had their stories of struggle and paved their paths to success.
But this article, its not about winning or succeeding, it is about failing, failing after coming as close as one ever can, being the best in your field, winning world titles, being World No 1 in your sport for 349 weeks, and just when victory was going to be most rewarding, maybe the luck wasn’t by your side. And did it happen once, no, twice or more? Maybe.
Lee Chong Wei, born and brought up in Malaysia, worked hard and developed the right set of skills and talent that by the age of 20 he was representing Malaysia in International Badminton from 2002. With his sheer hard work, he started rising up in ranks. But there was another extraordinarily talented player Lin Dan, the Chinese Badminton superstar, one of the best players the sport has ever seen. Both had their unique styles, Lee a hard jump smasher(his fastest smashes speed between 397–402 Kmph), incredible speed, deceptive whereas Lin is just a beast, patient, can dance across the length and width of whole court and be vigorous enough to unleash the heavy attacks when the opponent is just bleeding out of breath.
In their career, Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan crossed paths 40 times with Lee wining 12 times, Lin 28. But its the deepest cuts which hurt the most, most brutal defeats which Lee had to suffer which makes him great(yes I know it doesn’t make sense, how can someone who lose be great, a bit more patience just like Lin Dan and lets see how it unfolds).
The first significant encounter, 2008 Beijing olympics, by now Lee Chong Wei was a recognised name worldwide. Lin Dan was the world favourite(having already won world championships in 2006 and 2007). Both met in the finals, Lee was ready, but Lin was on fire smashing the shuttle all around the corners Lin was able to defeat Lee comfortable by 21–12, 21–8. And Lin Dan rightfully deserved the gold.
Lee had just played the most important match of his career, representing Malaysia in Olympics Men’s Singles final for the first time, but it was an honourable defeat. Lee continued his journey, became world no 1 Badminton player on 21 August 2008 and remained so till 14 June 2012 for straight 199 weeks.
Moving to the next most significant match in Lee’s career, 2011 Badminton World Championship, Lee vs Lin Dan in the final again. By now Lee and Lin had played 25 matches with Lee winning 8, Lin 17. The match was a close encounter with Lee loosing the match at 22–20, 14–21, 21–23.
It was time for London Olympics 2012. Both players again facing each other in finals, a clash of titans. Maybe this time the tables will turn, no athlete has ever been successful in retaining Olympics Gold in Badminton Mens Singles. A game of nerves,
Both players showcased the best they had to offer. Lee lost the first round with 15–21 but did a drastic comeback to win the second round by a huge margin at 21–10.
The final round, went on to 19–18, with Lee having a lead, both players exhausted after a continuous run around the court for more than 75 mins. Now, it was much more than just skills, it was a game of mental strength, patience, to not make a mistake, it wasn’t the moment where you would risk a loose shot only to miss the constraints of the court. It was the time to wait, to wait for your opponent to make a mistake. To bleed your opponent out of breath was the path to victory.
A victory which was much awaited by Malaysians, the nation had never won an olympic gold before, a victory which would have rewarded Lee with millions of dollars in terms of prize money. He was just 2 points away. But, did i tell you, Lin is a beast when it comes to mental strength. Lee lost the final round at 19–21. The final point went for a rally of 44 hits with shuttle finally landing outside the boundary,
A million dreams shattered, but that’s the sport, it is brutal.
Next most significant encounter, 2013 Badminton World Championships in Guangzhou. Both facing again in finals. A close encounter again ending with Lee loosing at 21–16, 13–21, 17–20.
Last most significant encounter, Rio Olympics 2016, this time Lee-Lin were facing each other in semi-finals. Lee Chong Wei, who had suffered two olympics golds, this was the time, he was prepared. The first two rounds went as 15–21, 21–11. Final round, maybe just this time Lee would make it, do the impossible, defeat the beast in Olympics, maybe for once the luck will be by his side. And it indeed was, in a round which went to deuce, Lee won by 22–20.
The above image, rightly captures the emotion, the graciousness and acceptance on the faces of fiercest rivals when for the first time the tables turned around.
Lee after defeating Lin stated, “This is my last Olympics and I have never won the gold medal so now it’s just one more step, I think it’s good for my retirement.”
Finally, things moving in the right direction. One more match to go, maybe this will be the victory, the moment he, the entire nation had waited for since a decade ago(remember 2008 Beijing Olympics), after being so close to it and the battle still continued.
The last most important match of his career. His rival this time was Chen Long, another Chinese badminton professional who Lee had already faced for 25 times and had won against 13 times. But, life is not a fairy tale. Sport is cruel, ruthless. And again, Lee lost the olympic finals at 18–21, 18–21. His third Olympics final.
A million dreams failed, the nation which has since never won an olympic gold will have to wait. Because defeats are so disheartening, maybe it’ll make the victories more enjoyable. Maybe when Malaysia wins their first Olympic Gold, it’ll honour all the warriors who tried their best and people would also enjoy the victory a bit more for they did bleed a lot for it.
So what is this all about? A player who was unlucky, who maybe failed, or lost in all important matches/finals. For we have 100s of sports and 100s of champions, probabilistically there will always be some player who will have such fate.
NO, its not about failing/losing, its about something bigger than that, its about living, accepting, accepting your defeats as gracefully as one can, for your true character is revealed in the darkest of hours, there are countless players who loose their cool and maybe smash the equipments, express their frustration, anger, unhappiness, discontent(and no offence to anyone, they’ve every right to do so as they’ve worked hard for years to reach this stage). Not Lee, this is Lee after his important matches(which resulted in defeats)
Accepting the defeats as gracefully as one can, the calmness and tranquility when there’s a raging sea of emotions running inside. That’s Lee Chong Wei for me.
Its also about mental strength, to rise, to rise again every time you are put down and have the harshest of falls. To never lose your confidence, morale and to be the very same best, even better version of you next time you face your opponents(or life in a broader context).
The sad part is, since I was following him and was hoping he would play 2020 olympics, he had to quit the sport due to cancer.
His career-long rival, Lin Dan, wrote on Sina Weibo(Chinese social media) that he now has to “head into battle alone, as he no longer has a companion anymore”, and shared a song titled “Don’t Cry, Friend”.
To Datuk Lee Chong Wei, the unlucky warrior who never gave up. Thank you.
