Seoul: The 28-year-old Lee Yong-dae of Korea, one of the most decorated doubles player in the last decade, has officially retired from international badminton following his Korea Open victory on Sunday.
Lee and his men’s doubles partner, Yoo Yeon-Seong (30 year-old), are the current world No. 1 men’s doubles pair in the world, but they had to draw every gram of genius and courage to stage an epic 16-21, 22-20, 21-18 win in three sets over last week’s Japan Open champions Li Junhui (195cm) and Liu Yuchen (193cm) who also called “Twin-Towers” of China in the Korea Open final.
“It was a very tough match, but I am proud to be able to end my international career with such as good performance as I move forward to a new chapter of my life,” said Lee after the match.
With 43rd Superseries title under his belt, he is one of the most successful men’s doubles player of all time.
Lee Yong-Dae had won an Olympic gold in mixed doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but he is obviously disappointed for never have the luck to win the World Championships and Olympic gold in men’s doubles despite being a dominant force in men’s doubles for almost 10 years.
In men’s singles, China’s unseeded Qiao Bin pulled off an upset to stun No. 8 seed South Korean veteran Son Wan Ho with 21-11, 21-23, 21-7.
Japan’s women’s singles No. 7 seed Akane Yamaguchi beat South Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun 20-22, 21-15, 21-18 to bag the women’s title.
South Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na were able to exact the revenge they have waited 1 week to get when they toppled China’s fifth seeds Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 21-14, 21-19, knocking out the Chinese pair after their loss in the Japan Open final last week to the same Chinese opponents.
An inspired women’s doubles top seeds Jung Kyung Eun and Shin Seung Chan of Korea, overcame No. 3 seeds Luo Ying and Luo Yu of China 21-13, 21-11 and managed to keep the women’s doubles title on their home soil.
