Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s badminton legend Lee Chong Wei is definitely one of the best badminton players ever. Lee who recorded 348 weeks as World No. 1 and 6 consecutive years as year-end World No. 1 (2008 – 2013) is always associated with every Greatest of All Time a.k.a “GOAT” debate in badminton. Lee and Lin Dan of China are two names that have pretty much monopolized the GOAT debate.
But is Lee the greatest player ever? According to Badminton Statistics, yes, he is!!!
Based on calculation from Badminton Statistics, Lee who won three Olympic silver medals, three World Championships runner-ups, four All-England champions, four BWF Super Series Finals titles, and was ranked No. 1 in the world for a total of 795 weeks, scored a total of 841 points compared to 795 points from the two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan.
The site justified its calculation with the following statement: “statistically it’s just hard to get around 8 years as World No. 1, 50+ tournament wins, 500+ match wins, etc…“.
It’s🎄(in Denmark), and MD time, and a rare victory for Lee Chong Wei 🇲🇾 over Lin Dan 🇨🇳
Yes, it’s another “wrong” result – statistically it’s just hard to get around 8 years as World No. 1, 50+ tournament wins, 500+ match wins, etc… pic.twitter.com/NZvKyeS8Dh
— Badminton Statistics (@BadmintonStats) December 24, 2022
It then followed up with the post below:
“Personally I am on the Lin Dan train, but I don’t mind LCW getting the glory in this one🙂”
Personally I am on the Lin Dan train, but I don’t mind LCW getting the glory in this one🙂
— Badminton Statistics (@BadmintonStats) December 24, 2022
China’s Rio Olympic gold medalist Chen Long ranked third with 423 points, followed by Viktor Axelsen (362 points), Kento Momota (347 points), Taufik Hidayat (271 points), Ardy B Wiranata (262 points), and Peter Gade (257 points).
In women’s singles, Indonesia’s Susi Susanti topped the list with 478 points, beating Tai Tzu Ying at 432 points. China’s Ye Zhaoying, Zhang Ning, Wang Yihan, Xie Xinfang, Zhou Mi, and Li Xuerui ranked 3rd to 8th.
The men’s doubles category saw Lee Yong Dae named the GOAT instead of Hendra Setiawan. The site said many people would disagree with the decision, but the result purely came from a statistical point of view where it was justifiable to say that Lee Yong Dae has the best individual results overall. Otherwise, Fu Haifeng of China might be the GOAT in men’s doubles given the fact that Fu has won two Olympic golds.
For women’s doubles, it’s Yu Yang who earned better numbers statistically to become the GOAT.
Both Zhang Nan and Zheng Siwei are experts in mixed doubles, and they share very similar statistics in many categories. Even though Zheng has not yet won any Olympic gold medals, he edged past the 2012 London Olympics gold medalist Zhang Nan with a total of 598 points compared to Zhang Nan’s 576 points.
