Doubles specialist Lee Yong-dae has left the badminton world shell shocked with his decision to quit competitive international badminton at the age of 28 when others beyond the age of 30 are still thinking of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Yong-dae, who is currently competing in the on-going USD600,000 Victor Korea Open with his partner Yoo Yeon-seong, told the BWF that it is is his last international tournament.
The BWF website reported that the Yong-dae who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal in the mixed doubles with Lee Hyo-jung, has made up his mind on quitting after 14 years of representing his country in international meets.
He also won the Incheon Asian Games team gold in 2014. He has played men's doubles with different partners – namely Chung Jae-sung, Ko Sung-hyun and Yeon-seong.
Yong-dae joined the Korean national team at the age of 15 in 2003 and quickly rose through the ranks and became a household name in the shuttle sport.
It is learnt that Yong-dae will not sever his links with the sport totally and is expected to contribute in a different capacity.
His shock decision to quit is also contributed to his failure to win a medal in the Rio Olympics last month. They lost to Malaysia's Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong 21-17, 18-21, 19-21. The Malaysians went on to win the silver medal in the event.
Yong-dae-Yeon-seong are the top seeds in the men's doubles in the Victor Korean Open Superseries and reached the quarter-finals with a 21-19, 21-19 win over China's Liu Xiaolong-Lu Kai.
The crack Korean pair will face Japan's Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda for a place in the last four. The Japanese advanced to the last eight with a 21-11, 21-10 win over Denmark's Mathias Christiansen-David Dugaard.
Second Round Results
Men's doubles
Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) beat Liu Xiaolong-Lu Kai (Chn) 21-19, 21-19
Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) beat Mathias Christiansen-David Dougaard (Den) 21-11, 21-10
Takuro Hoki-Yogo Kobayashi (Jpn) beat Lee Sheng-mu-Wu Hsiao-Lim (Tpe) 21-10, 22-20, 26-24
Huang Kaixiang-Wang Yilyu (Chn) beat Hoon Thien How-Teo Kok Siang (Mas) 17-21, 21-13,21-9
Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) beat Liu Cheng-Zheng Siwei (Chn) 22-20. 14-21, 24-22
Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) beat Lee Jhe Huei-Lee Yang (Tpe) 18-21, 21-14, 21-15
Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) beat Peter Briggs-Tom Wolfenden (Eng) 21-17, 21-16
Chai Biao-Hong Wei (Chn) beat Takuto Inoue-Yuki Kaneko (Jpn) 17-21, 21-15, 21-10
