Kuala Lumpur: Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan were enemies, they became friends, and they took the sport of badminton to new heights. But, many badminton fans would question, who has the best overall career winning percentage? Who has the best single-season winning percentage? These questions and many more, are answered here.
Thanks to Per Damkjær Juhl of Badminton Bladet, let’s look at some interesting stats and facts about Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan.
Best Overall Career Winning Percentage:
Playing a total of 855 matches throughout his career (721 wins, 134 losses), Lee Chong Wei ranked No. 1 all-time for the highest winning percentage of 84%.
Lin Dan was second in this category, playing a total of 804 matches (670 wins, 134 losses), his overall career winning percentage was 83%.
However, if we look at Lee and Lin’s career winning percentage from a different angle, only referring to the 5 best years from each of them and compare how the statistics stack up between the two badminton legends.
Winning % – Best 5 Years
Statistics above showed both Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei were in a class of their own, as they were the only two players in the history of badminton to earn the winning percentage of more than 90%. Lin Dan was superior in this category, with 93% of winning percentage compared to Lee’s 91%.
Next, let’s evaluate the 20 best seasons of any players in the last 30 years measured by overall winning percentage, Lin Dan has 7 best winning percentage seasons in last 30 years, while Lee Chong Wei has 4.
Overall, we should consider ourselves the “lucky generation” where we got a chance to witness the epic back-and-forth battles between the two legends who helped badminton grow into one of the most popular sports globally.
Wish Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan, the two rivals, friends, and legends happy retirements and success in all their future endeavors.
Statistics (source: https://badmintonbladet.dk/legends-in-numbers-part-1-lin-dan/)
