Birmingham: Badminton fans around the world could be set for perhaps one the last few encounters between two badminton legends – Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan, going head to head at the YONEX All England that will be held from March 7-12.
It’s getting harder to see these two badminton legends fight against each other on the badminton court recently as both players have been carefully managing their tournament schedules that aimed at possibly prolonging their playing career.
While World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei had confirmed his participation in Birmingham early this year, the two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan’s entry came as a surprise as he was uncertain about winning his seventh All England title as he was registered for the tournament right before the registration deadline on Jan 24th.
Both Lee and Lin have won nine All England titles in total. Lee has won it three times while Lin won his sixth All England title in 2016.
Although they have played against each other 36 times on the international tournaments, the two legends have only ever met each other 3 times at the All England. The last time these two badminton superstars met each other at All England was in the 2012 final in which Lee Chong Wei was forced to retire with a shoulder injury.
After skipping last year’s French Open, Hong Kong Open and China Open, the All England will be Lee’s first Superseries tournament in four months. On the other hand, Lin Dan’s last international tournament was the Rio Olympic, where he lost to Lee in the semi-finals and to Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the bronze medal playoff.
