1. Lee Yong-dae 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.
36 Facts About Lee Yong-dae
1. 2.
Lee Yong-dae 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.
3.
Lee Yong-dae was ranked world number 1 in men's doubles for 117 consecutive weeks with his last partner, Yoo Yeon-seong.
4.
Lee Yong-dae made a comeback to the international stage at the end of 2017, and started a new partnership with Kim Gi-jung in 2018.
5.
On 9 December 2024, Lee Yong-dae was inducted to BWF Badminton Hall of Fame.
6.
Lee Yong-dae started playing badminton at his local elementary school at the age of 8, taking up the sport to lose weight.
7.
Lee Yong-dae joined the national badminton team of South Korea in 2003, at the age of 15 years.
8.
Lee Yong-dae started off 2004 with the French Open International, where he played in the singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles.
9.
Lee Yong-dae participated in several other tournaments without any major results.
10.
Lee Yong-dae won the gold medals at the Asian Junior Championships in the boys' doubles, mixed doubles and team events.
11.
Lee Yong-dae won two titles at the Thailand Open in the men's doubles with Jung Jae-sung and mixed doubles with Ha Jung-eun.
12.
On top of that, Lee Yong-dae won the mixed doubles with Lee Yong-dae Hyo-jung.
13.
Lee Yong-dae participated in the 2007 Sudirman Cup with the South Korea team.
14.
In mixed doubles, Lee Yong-dae reached the third round with Lee Yong-dae Hyo-jung.
15.
Not having participated in the two Super Series events prior to the Olympics, supposedly because of their preparations for the Summer Olympics, Lee Yong-dae was disappointingly knocked out in the first round in Beijing with Jung.
16.
Lee Yong-dae started the year brightly when he and Jung Jae-sung won the Malaysia Open.
17.
However, as Jung had to join the military service for two months, Lee Yong-dae paired with Shin Baek-cheol for the German Open and claimed the title.
18.
Lee Yong-dae won in both the men's doubles and mixed doubles events.
19.
However, in the final, he and Lee Yong-dae Hyo-jung lost to Zheng Bo and Yu Yang, while a few hours later he and Jung Jae-sung lost to Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.
20.
Again, he and Lee Yong-dae Hyo-jung were defeated by Zheng Bo and Ma Jin, the Chinese pair who beat them in Singapore semi-final.
21.
Lee Yong-dae had a better run with Jung Jae-sung in the men's doubles, reaching the final, but lost to Chinese pair Cai and Fu.
22.
Only a week later, Lee Yong-dae successfully defended his two titles in China Open Super Series.
23.
On January 17, Lee Yong-dae successfully started the 2010 year by winning Korea Open Super Series in Seoul with Jung Jae-sung.
24.
Lee Yong-dae was absent from the Thomas Cup due to injury.
25.
Lee Yong-dae started the 2011 season with a not-so-satisfying result in the 2010 Superseries Finals in Taiwan as he and Jung Jae-sung finished as runner-up.
26.
Lee Yong-dae 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.
27.
Lee Yong-dae immediately returned to the badminton scene in May by contributing to the national squad at the 2014 Thomas Cup.
28.
Therefore, Lee Yong-dae won his third silver medal in World Championships.
29.
Lee Yong-dae had a bright year in 2015 despite a slow start to the year.
30.
Lee Yong-dae 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.
31.
Lee Yong-dae 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 and Liu pair.
32.
Lee Yong-dae made a comeback in the men's doubles and partnered up with Kim Gi-jung, and won the titles of Spain Masters and Macau Open.
33.
Lee Yong-dae began the 2020 season by winning the Malaysia Masters with Kim Gi-jung.
34.
Lee Yong-dae has since made several appearances on the sports-themed variety show Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education.
35.
Lee Yong-dae start dating actress Byun Soo-mi in 2011 and went public with their relationship in 2012.
36.
On February 8,2017, Lee Yong-dae announced they were engaged and planned to have a small private wedding ceremony.