Lee Yong-dae

Lee began the 2020 season by winning the Malaysia Masters with Kim Gi-jung. The duo claimed the title after beat the third seeded from China Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen in the final in two straight games.

Lee start dating actress Byun Soo-mi in 2011 and went public with their relationship in 2012. The two met at a badminton event hosted by Byun's father. On February 8, 2017, Lee announced they were engaged and planned to have a small private wedding ceremony. On April 10, 2017, their daughter Lee Ye-bin was born, and her growth is document in the new KBS's reality show Pot Stand, as it was named after the books used to put under the hot pots. The couple decided to write a memoir of their private lives and Ye-bin's growth and development. In December 2018 however, they filed for divorce, due to "irreconcilable differences".

The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.

After winning the 2016 Korean Superseries with Yoo, Lee announced his retirement from international badminton. He made a comeback to the international stage at the end of 2017, and started a new partnership with Kim Gi-jung in 2018.

Lee Yong-dae and partner Yoo Yeon-seong started off the year at the 2016 German Open Grand Prix Gold and lost to compatriots Ko Sung-hyun/Shin Baek-cheol in the finals. They reached the semi-finals at the 2016 All England Super Series Premier but suffered a shock loss to unseeded Russian pair Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov, who went on to take their first Super Series title. They also reached the semi-finals stage of the 2016 Malaysia Super Series Premier and the 2016 Singapore Super Series, but were knocked out by compatriots Kim Gi-jung and Kim Sa-rang, and Chinese pair Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan, respectively. Both pairs went on to win the tournaments. Lee and Yoo won their first title of 2016 at the China Masters against Kim Gi-jung and Kim Sa-rang, and their second at the Asian Championships against unseeded Chinese pairing of Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen. They then contested the 2016 Thomas Cup representing Korea, and won three out of four matches they played, their only loss coming from eventual finalists, Indonesia's Ahsan/Setiawan. Lee and Yoo then won their first Super Series title of the year, and their third in total, at the Indonesia Open, beating China's fifth seeds Chai Biao and Hong Wei in the final. They represented Korea at the 2016 Summer Olympics as the top seeds, but crashed out in the quarter-finals to unseeded Malaysian pair Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong which was their second losses in 9 meetings with the Malaysian pair. Lee announced that he would retire following the 2016 Summer Olympics, with his last tournament being the Korea Open in September in which he won alongside his partner Yoo Yeon-seong against the Chinese Li/Liu pair.

Lee Yong-dae had a bright year in 2015 despite a slow start to the year. He won a total of 6 Superseries titles, 4 consecutively, namely Australia, Japan, Korea, Denmark, France and Hong Kong with partner Yoo Yeon Seong, and were top seeds for the Dubai Superseries finals, despite losing to Indonesian rivals Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the semi-finals.

Lee immediately returned to the badminton scene in May by contributing to the national squad at the 2014 Thomas Cup. South Korea came in second to Malaysia in the group stage but eventually lost 2-3 to Indonesia in the quarter-finals.

In 2014 World Championships men's doubles final, Lee and Yoo Yeon-seong surprisingly lost to their compatriots Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek-cheol 20–22, 23–21, 18–21. Therefore, Lee won his third silver medal in world championships.

At the Asian Games, Lee and Jung became bronze medalist after losing the semi-finals to Luluk Hadiyanto and Alvent Yulianto of Indonesia in the individual men's doubles event. In the team event, South Korea lost to China in the final 2–3, thus gaining Lee a silver medal.

Lee and Jung pair were the only ones to score a point for South Korea against China in the Thomas Cup final, which ended in a 3–1 win for China.

In the Sudirman Cup on May 10–17, Lee Yong-dae brought South Korea to the final to meet defending champion China. Lee won in both the men's doubles and mixed doubles events. However, in the final, he and Lee Hyo-jung lost to Zheng Bo and Yu Yang, while a few hours later he and Jung Jae-sung also lost to Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. China then won the cup for the third consecutive time.

In March's All England Championship, Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung reached the semi-finals, playing Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir. The third seeds lost to the Indonesian pair 16–21, 21–18, and 8–21. With Jung Jae-sung in the men's doubles, Lee only made it to the quarter-finals, defeated 18–21, 10–21 by Xu Chen and Guo Zhendong of China.

Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung grabbed their first title of the year in Swiss Open Super Series after subduing compatriots Shin Baek-cheol and Yoo Hyun-young in straight sets, 21–14 and 21–18.

In the Asian Games in November, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung helped South Korea men's team to reach the final. They beat Chinese Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in the final, yet Korea was failed to win the gold medal as China downed Korea 3–1. For the individual event, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung gained the bronze medal after beaten by Indonesia's Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan in the last four.

With the retirement of Lee Hyo-jung, Lee has now paired with Ha Jung-eun in the mixed doubles. They won the US Open Grand Prix Gold in July with a 21–19, 21–13 win over Taiwan's fifth-seeded Chen Hung-ling and Cheng Wen-hsing, also won the men's doubles with Ko Sung Hyun beating Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan of United States in the final. The next week, he participated in the Canada Open at the Richmond Olympic Oval. With Ko, he won the title. However, in the mixed doubles, Lee and his partner, Ha Jung-eun, lost to qualifier Liu Cheng and Luo Ying in the second round.

In September, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung won China Masters title after defeating China's Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21–17, 21–10. Lee also played in Japan Open, pairing with Ko Sung-hyun again, but they lost in the quarter-finals against Indonesia's Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan.

In October, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung once again defeated Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21–16, 21–17 to win Denmark Open Super Series Premier. Lee and Jung were again victorious against Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in three sets, 14–21 21–15 21–11, to win the French Super Series title.

However, they managed to win against Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng again in March to win their second All England Open title with a 21–23, 21–9, and 21–14 victory.

In June, Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung won their second Indonesia Open title after defeating Danish Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe 23–21, 19–21, and 21–11. His record against the Danish players was good but unfortunately, in their last meeting in 2012 in the semi final of 2012 Olympic Games was won by the Danish players in 3 thrilling sets, breaking Koreans' hope to take the gold medals. Instead they had to be satisfied with bronze medals.

Lee Yong-dae started the year with his new partner Ko Sung-hyun winning the Korea Open against Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 19–21, 21–13, 21–10. They then entered the Malaysia Open and placed second losing to Indonesian pairs Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 15–21, 13-21. After the Malaysian Open, the pair failed to perform losing 14–21, 14–21 to Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan of China in the quarter-finals of the German Open. A week later, the pair lost again in round one of the All England Open to unseeded German Pair Ingo Kindervater and Johannes Schoettler 21–23, 18–21. At the India Open in April, the pair lost in the final to Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan of China 20–22, 18–21.

After a one-year partnership, Lee Yong-dae and Ko Sung-hyun split and Lee paired with current world #8 and Ko's former partner Yoo Yeon-seong. This partnership won two consecutive tournaments 2013 Denmark Super Series Premier & China Open.

Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung didn't start off the year so well with a loss in their home game at the 2012 Korea Open Super Series Premier losing to Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in three sets, 18–21 21–17 21–19. In German Open, Lee and Jung reached the final but lost to unseeded Chinese pair, Hong Wei and Shen Ye.

Lee Yong-dae started the 2011 season with a not-so-satisfying result in the 2010 Super Series Finals in Taiwan as he and Jung Jae-sung finished as runner-up. However, their disappointment disappeared after they became the first winner of Korea Open Super Series Premier in January. In the final, they conquered top-seeded Denmark's Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen easily, 21–6 and 21–13.

On January 17, Lee Yong-dae successfully started the 2010 year by winning Korea Open Super Series in Seoul with Jung Jae-sung. In the final, the top seeds defeated Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China 21–11, 14–21, and 21–18. However, in the mixed doubles, Lee who paired with Lee Hyo-jung were subdued 13–21 and 16–21 by Chinese pair Tao Jiaming and Zhang Yawen in the first round. The same pair defeated Lee and Lee in the second round of Malaysia Open a week later without a match.

To start 2008, Lee, together with Jung, disappointingly lost to an unseeded pair in the second round of the Malaysia Open. Mixed doubles went better for Lee and Lee Hyo-jung this time, finishing as runners-up. They lost to He Hanbin and Yu Yang of China. In South Korea, things went a bit better in men's doubles, achieving a quarterfinal. Lee and Jung lost to runners-up Luluk Hadiyanto and Alvent Yulianto of Indonesia there, but in mixed doubles Lee and his partner won the title against Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa of Indonesia.

More than a month later, Lee and Jung came back with a bang to win the 2008 All England Open, beating Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah in a thrilling semi-final (coming back from a 16–20 deficit in the third game) and Lee Jae-jin and Hwang Ji-man, also from Korea, in the final. In mixed doubles Lee Hyo-jung lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Zheng Bo and Gao Ling. A week later, Lee was victorious with Jung in the Swiss Open too. In mixed doubles they lost against He Hanbin and Yu Yang, who went on to the semi-finals.

Lee's gold medal win at the 2008 Olympics, his first appearance at the Olympic Games, propelled him from relative obscurity to national fame. He has since made several appearances on the sports-themed variety show Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education.

Lee participated in the 2007 Sudirman Cup with the South Korea team. The team lost to China in the semi-finals with a score of 0–3.

In July, after a period of disappointing results in men's doubles, Lee became runner-up with Jung at the Thailand Open, losing to Lee Jae-jin and Hwang Ji-man. Not much later, the pair went on to take the silver medal in the 2007 BWF World Championships. They were defeated in the final by Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia, 19–21, 19–21. In mixed doubles, Lee reached the third round with Lee Hyo-jung. There they lost to Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson of England in three games. With Jung Jae-sung, the rest of the year also resulted in quite disappointing achievements, as he failed to pass the quarterfinals in any major events, except in the French Open. Lee and Jung there lost to the eventual winners, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China.

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation since 1983.

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.

Lee started off 2004 with the French Open International, where he played in the singles, men's doubles (with Jung Jung-young) and mixed doubles (with Kang Hae-won). In the mixed doubles event, the pair managed to reach the semi-finals, before losing to the Russians. He participated in several other tournaments without any major results. At the Vietnam Satellite, he reached the quarter-finals in the mixed doubles category, partnering Oh Seul-ki.

Lee started playing badminton at his local elementary school at the age of 8, taking up the sport to lose weight. When he first began competing internationally, in 2003, he was a member of the Hwasun Middle School team, then he was with Hwasun Vocational High School until the end of his junior days in 2006, before joining the Samsung Electromechanics team in 2006. He joined the national badminton team of South Korea in 2003, at the age of 15 years.

Lee Yong-dae (Hangul: 이용대; Hanja: 李龍大; Korean pronunciation: [i.joŋ.dɛ̝] ; born 11 September 1988) is a professional badminton player from South Korea who had been successful in both men's and mixed doubles. He reached world number 1 ranking with 4 different partners, Jung Jae-sung, Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong in men's doubles, and Lee Hyo-jung in mixed doubles. He won a total of 43 Superseries titles, 37 in the men's doubles, the most of any doubles player in one discipline, and 6 in mixed doubles. He was ranked world number 1 in men's doubles for 117 consecutive weeks with his last partner, Yoo Yeon-seong.