Olympic badminton mixed doubles gold medallist Lee Yong Dae is one of only four Koreans making the trip to Kota Kinabalu this week for the Super Series Master Finals. Lee and partner Jung Jae Sung, will be attempting to erase the memory of their disastrous men’s doubles showing in Beijing where they made a first-round exit. This time around, the pair are again on a roll, having won three tournaments in a row including the last two legs of the Super Series dozen. Lee took some time out after their third win, at the Yeosu International Challenge, to talk to Badzine about his upcoming campaign in Malaysia.
Interview and Photos: Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent live in YeosuBadzine International: What teams are you most concerned about going into the Super Series Finals?Lee Yong Dae: I’m not exactly sure which teams have qualified but the Danish pair Boe/Mogensen is a team we’ll be watching out for. Also Koo/Tan both because the tournament is being held in Malaysia and because they have just always given us trouble. In any case, because this tournament is for the best of the best, with only the top eight teams, the result will depend somewhat on who has the luck with them on that day.
BZI: How would you compare the fans in Malaysia with those in Korea?Lee: Well, I like that badminton has become more popular since the Olympics but I would say that fans here come and cheer and clap for the players they know. In Malaysia, though, when Malaysia is playing, the whole crowd just seems to cheer as one. Also, a lot of fans seem to cheer for me, as long as I’m not playing against a Malaysian pair, so I like that. The fans there seem to really love the game and enjoy watching badminton more, too, so I would say it’s different in that way.
BZI: You went into the Olympics having won three of your previous four tournaments and now you’ve won another three in a row going into the Super Series Master Finals. How will your mental preparation differ this time from before the Olympics?Lee: Well, apart from the Olympics, we have done well in every tournament this year and it’s definitely the best season I’ve had so far in men’s doubles so we were among the favourites going into that tournament and I think even as we were winning those tournaments, the players from other nations were able to figure out what it would take to beat us. This time we’re going to be more aware of that and we have been concentrating on varying our playing style so that we will have a better chance.
BZI: Is winning this event in Yeosu that meaningful to you after taking two Super Series titles?Lee: Well, Jeollanam-do is my home province so I wanted to do well here and especially because there were so many people who came here to cheer for me, I’m glad I didn’t disappoint them. In fact, I’m just as happy to win this title as any of the Super Series tournaments. In every tournament, we play hard and try to beat every team so it’s just as satisfying in the end.
BZI: Has your life become a lot more complicated since winning the Olympics?Lee: Well, for about one or two months, people recognized me everywhere and it became difficult to move around but now that 3 or 4 months have passed, a lot of people still recognize me in public and they greet me but it isn’t as intense as before so right now it’s perfect because it’s nice to get recognition and it isn’t an inconvenience.
Before the Olympics, I never got people recognizing me in public and even my mini-homepage went from about 200 visits a day earlier in the year to, on average, 2000 visits per day after we won the gold.
BZI: So is the increase in attention a good thing overall?Lee: Well, if a lot of people recognize your face no matter where you go, there is the chance it can become inconvenient but in my case, I’d say that I enjoy the attention overall.
BZI: I’m sure our readers will be disappointed if I don’t ask you whether you have a girlfriend.Lee: No, I don’t have a girlfriend.
BZI: Well, you seem to be popular with female fans in Malaysia and other places. Do you think the woman who finally catches your eye will most likely be from Korea or is there still a chance for the ladies elsewhere in the world?Lee: Well, it’s really hard to say. We’re so busy with tournaments and training that meeting a woman and getting into a relationship really seems hard at this point.
His interviews completed, Lee Yong Dae goes to work on a stack of over fifty blank pages that he has been asked to autograph for his fans. Nearby, his coach and Olympic gold medallist predecessor Ha Tae Kwun looks over at his young charge.
“Are you having fun? Is it difficult?” Ha asks. “Yong Dae, this is your life.”
And Yong Dae smiles. He’s getting used to it.
Source: Badzine
(BTW, LYD's sense of anticipation is very well known among the Korean players. Have you ever heard of that in Korea?) All my arguments are from my watching the games on internet and in videos. I usually enjoy watching LYD's games on internet live and then in videos at least a couple of times in analytical way with slow replays. I like to talk about this kind of stuff in more details with the game content itself not just from the scores or results. 1. MX Let me just comment on the losses against ZB/MJ in the past three consecutive tournaments. That would sound some excuse but it would be reasonable. Usually, I see the success of the KOR MX somewhat depends on LHJ's plays. I don't want to argue that it's always up to woman in MX. But on the three tourneys, LHJ did many errors with not much information/experiences about MJ who have shown extraordinary performance recently. As MJ is rising as a top-ranked player, the KOR duo will need more games with her to anticipate her playing styles. IMO, at the next rematch, I'm optimistic for KOR as they will then know much more about MJ. (And ZB was in a very good form at the games.) One more thing to note is... in 2009 Swiss Open, right one day before he played with LHJ in the final against ZB/MJ (which was the first match among the Final matches), he and SBC finished over-one-hour fierce battle against Boe/Mogensen which was the last match among the Semi-finals and finished after midnight! In sum, It was the last match he did through the whole Europe tours. In Swiss, LHJ was not bad, but in this case, LYD looked very tired as you can check how his movements were not that effective while ZB, who plays MX only, was flying over the court. (Note he had played all MX and MD for the three weeks as he usually advance to the SF or F.) (Against Boe/Mogensen, they was leading but in rubber set, you can check how SBC, who is younger than LYD, making errors.) I think LYD now know how MJ plays and I'm still go for him that he will manage MJ in his next matches with her. 2. MD Until JJS/LYD rising as 2008 AE champion, they had to store up sufficient experiences about world top-rankers. LYD was learning the others' playing styles ascribing them into his body. Finally, from 2008 AE, they started to show super performance, never lose to WR #1 and #2 Cai/Fu and Kido/Markis afterwards. Especially watch the video of AE 2008 SF against the MAS uncles to know how LYD saved the rubber set from 16-20; that's because he then knew how the uncles moved around court. (I have a bunch of things to prove about his learned plays. Just reflect that he always win the rubber set - why? - because he then came to learn how his opponents play. If you are occasional player in your club, you might know how this works IN PLAY.) However, the most difficult style they can manage looks of danish. Rasmussen is a peculiar one who had failed KORs in many ways. (You surely know how KDM/LKM lost to him and Olsen in 2004 Athens Olympics.) BTW, in the most recent game, which was 2009 KOR Open SF, JJS/LYD completely defeated the DEN team with absolute scores; It was reported a revenge match after 2008 Beijing defeat to them. (In the KOR Open, they lost in Final against another DEN team, Boe/Mogensen, in which, if you see the video, you might detect how the younger Danish players did something strange to make it through their seniors loss one day before. Reasonable excuse.) And in the 2009 Swiss Open, LYD could have won over the team even with rookie, SBC, which turned to be failure with SBC's lack of experiences as the commentator said about that. OK, that's my partial argument to prove how LYD is an outstanding learning player in current world badminton. I "don't" think that LYD is a good smasher(his smash speed is just so and so and look his jump-smash form which is very awkward) or a fast-moving, etc. player. But, he has very good credential for a badminton player, that is "sense of anticipation". (He looks very fast moving. Actually I would say No, he just moves effectively with anticipation that makes him look move faster.) And this sense is acquired after learning in the situations on the court through the real games against another players. He always, hits the bird after checking all moves of his opponents and the court status. In slow videos, it would be helpful if you can check how differently he sends the bird and how uniquely he moses back and forth to manage his opponents. So, he plays with knowledge of his opponents. If he faces a new strong opponents, he would lose. But after some learning time, He turns to be "yet another" player to the same opponents; he plays differently in a very brilliant way. LYD is very likely of winning in the rubber set. And, LYD is very likely of winning in the next match against new rising faces like MJ. (New rising stars can win LYD a couple of games, but not in later ones.) Last words, I'm not saying he's a super-man, never losing, ever-winning. Just forgive me as I have somewhat exaggerated about his ability to make it noticeable. Thanks! 
