Lee Chong Wei answered five questions from 12-year-old Eilidh in a video uploaded by Sunrise Yonex.

Here are some of the excerpts from the video.

Lee said he started playing badminton at the age of eleven. He played other sports like basketball and handball when he was young. It was his father who made him settled on badminton. He said, “My dad is crazy about badminton.”

A one-day national holiday for Malaysia

Lee said that when Malaysia won the Thomas Cup for the first time in 1992, the country had a one-day national holiday. This was his inspiration. He said, “After this, I was really surprised and it made me want to go to badminton and give it one more chance to win either the Thomas cup or the Olympics. That inspired me to get a championship for the country. And maybe get one more day and one more time for the holiday.”

When asked about the toughest opponent he had ever met, he said, “Wah, I think everybody knows. It’s Lin Dan.” He also said that if anyone wanted to become champion, they would have to beat all the Chinese players. “I think my enemy, and also on my mind every day when I sleep and wake up is Lin Dan. Because I train hard, I can beat Lin Dan. My toughest opponent,” he continued.

It’s always Lin Dan

Lee said he considered his win over Lin Dan at the 2006 Malaysia Open as his greatest badminton achievement. He said, “I think in the final match, Lin Dan was leading. In the final match, it became 20-13. Lin Dan led 20-13 and I won the match 23-21. This is I think my luck. One can only one time win this kind of matches.”

Lee said currently he was using the Yonex Astrox 99 Lee Chong Wei limited edition.

In the end, Lee asked young Eilidh which tournament she would like to win. Eilidh who was from Scotland said she would like to win the Scottish Open. To this Lee replied, “I think I went to Scotland only one or two times. One is the Sudirman cup, second is the World Championships. I don’t think it’s good, you know. Because I lost the first round, you know. No good memories, you know. Just kidding.”

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