Career
In 2003, Lee Chong Wei reached his first major tournament final in the Malaysia Open. However, he was defeated by Chen Hong of China.
In 2004, he won two titles - the Malaysia Open and the Chinese Taipei Open. He also qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where he defeated Ng Wei of Hong Kong in the first round but was defeated by Chen Hong in the second round.
In 2005, he won two titles, his second Malaysia Open title and the Denmark Open. He also appeared for the first time in the World Championships and won a bronze.
In 2006, he won three titles: the Swiss Open, Asian Badminton Championships and his third Malaysia Open. He also won two gold medals in men's singles and mixed team events in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He reached the top spot twice in the Badminton World Federation's rankings and participated in the World Championships as top seed.
In 2007, for the first time in five years, he failed to reach the final of the Malaysia Open. He also lost five competitions afterward. Later that year, he reunited with former coach Misbun Sidek and won the Indonesia Open.
In the second half of 2007, he won the Philippines Open, the Japan Open, and the French Open. He also suffered a knee injury that led to defeat in the China Open and Hong Kong Open.
In 2008, he won his fourth Malaysia Open title in five years and the Singapore Open title. In the 2008 Olympic Games, he reached the final to be completely outplayed by Lin Dan, losing 12–21, 8–21.
Following a brief period of knee injury, in December 2008, he recorded his seventh consecutive win at the National Badminton Grand Prix, breaking Misbun Sidek’s record of six consecutive titles.
In 2009, he won his fifth Malaysia Open title and later the Swiss Open title. In May, he helped Malaysia qualify for the Sudirman Cup semi-finals. He won the Indonesia Open and the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold in June, the Macau Open in August, and the Hong Kong Open in November. In December, he defended his Super Series Masters Finals title.
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In 2010, he secured his first treble in the Super Series titles, his first ever Korea Open crown, his sixth Malaysia Open title, and his first All England Open title.
2010 mid-year, he won the Indonesia Open, the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold and the Macau Open. In September, he crushed his top competitor Lin Dan in the Japan Open. In October 2010, he won gold at the Commonwealth Games mixed team event and the singles event.
Towards the end of 2010, he won a silver medal at the Asian Games, his second successive Hong Kong Open title, and third successive Super Series Master Finals title.
In January 2011, he won his seventh Malaysia Open title. In March, he won the All England Open title for the second consecutive time, defeating Lin Dan. In May, he won his first ever India Open and his third consecutive Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold title. Later, he won the Indonesia Open and the French Open.
In 2012, he defeated Lin Dan in the Korea Open and also secured his fifth straight and eighth Malaysia Open title. In March, he lost the All England Open, crushing his hopes of becoming the first man to win three successive All England Open titles.
In April 2012, he retained his Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold title for the fourth time in a row. He then suffered an ankle injury during the Thomas Cup and was out for a few weeks.
After recovery, he returned to play in the London Olympic Games 2012. He reached the finals but lost to Lin Dan and had to settle once again with a silver medal. He also won the Japan Open and Denmark Open on his return.
In 2013, he won the Korea Open title for the third time. A week later, he captured his ninth Malaysia Open title, which broke the record of eight titles formerly held by Wong Peng Soon.
Later in 2013, he also won his second India Open, fifth Indonesia Open, fourth Japan Open, and the Hong Kong Open title. He ended the season with a record fourth Masters Finals title in the Super Series tournament.
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In 2014, he won his tenth Malaysia Open title and announced a probable retirement. However, following an assessment of his condition, his form improved and he won his third All England Open and India Open titles. In June 2014, he won the Japan Open title for the third consecutive year and fifth time overall.
In October 2014, the Badminton Association of Malaysia confirmed that one of the nation's leading shuttlers tested positive for dexamethasone during the recent World Championships. Though the identity of the player was undisclosed, it was widely believed to be Chong Wei. Later, on further testing, the doping charges were confirmed.
In November 2014, the Badminton World Federation confirmed his temporary suspension due to the anti-doping regulation violation. The ban was lifted on 1 May 2015 but his silver medal from the 2014 World Championships was taken away.
In 2015, on resuming, his first tournament was the Sudirman Cup. He won all three matches he played in the tournament. He later won the US Open and Canada Open back to back.
Later that year, he won the French Open, followed by his first ever China Open title, thus making him the first men's singles player to have won all Super Series titles. He also won the Hong Kong Open, ending the year with three back-to-back titles.
In January 2016, he won his fifth Malaysia Masters title.Awards & Achievements
In December 2008, he recorded his seventh consecutive win at the National Badminton Grand Prix Final, breaking Misbun Sidek’s record of six consecutive titles.
In both 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, he won silver, becoming the sixth Malaysian to win an Olympic medal and the first Malaysian to reach the finals in the men's singles event.
He won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
He won the prestigious Yonex All England Open titles in 2010 and 2011 successively while in 2014 he won his tenth Malaysia Open title.
Chong Wei has received many awards throughout his illustrious career. He won seven Penang Sportsman Award, four National Sportsman Award, four BWF Player of the Year Award, three TYT Prime Award Trophy, two Olympian of the Year Award, the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) Award, and the Most Popular Icon on Television Award by RTM.
In August 2008, as a reward for winning a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, he received RM 300,000 and a lifetime monthly pension of RM 3,000. Governor of Penang, Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas conferred on him the ‘Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri’ (DSPN), which carried the title ‘Dato’.
In February 2009, he was appointed as UNICEF Malaysia's National Ambassador.
In June 2009, he received the ‘Darjah Bakti’ (DB) award from Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin for his achievements in the 2008 Olympics.
