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The little brother of all Korea badminton fans:Lee Yong Dae (2)
2011 VICTOR KOREA GRAND PRIX GOLD RUNNER UP : Lee Yong Dae
Q：
Who are the most formidable opponents you have faced? What were the main problems they caused you？
A：
The strongest opponents at present are Fu Hai Feng and Cai Yun of China. We have played quite often in the last few years and have shared the spoils.
One time was when we lost to them in the World Championships in London in August 2008; my confidence was undermined a bit by that loss.
Fu Hai Feng has a terrific smash and also moves fast;powerful and fast, he is quite a handful
Q：
What are your badminton strengths?
A：
My strengths are my speed, and defense and control abilities,
Q：
You are ranked second in the world. Is there any room for you to improve?
A：
Our men’s doubles pairing has performed well so we have continually played in tournaments and, because of this, our way of playing and our individual skills have been exposed to our opponents.
We hope, in the next year, to achieve some breakthroughs in terms of strategy so we can surprise our opponents with our playing style.
After playing for so long it is inevitable that we develop playing habits, when smashing and receiving the shuttlecock etc.
I am very good at receiving powerful smashes and I have noticed recently that opponents are deliberately hitting their smashes with less power.
I will do some training to address this situation;as for my own smashes, I think I can generate more power so I will add some weight training to my training schedule.
Q：
Which players do you admire most? Why?
A：
Kim Dong Moon, winner of the gold medal in the mixed doubles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics who currently coaching in Canada.
He is very skillful; and was always very focused in training. He achieved a string of great results. I would like to equal him or even exceed his success.
Q.
How do you celebrate or reward yourself for winning a tournament?
A：
On the last day of a tournament, if results are good, my teammates and I will celebrate and maybe drink a little.
When one tournament ends, there are many other matches to follow;in my experience, if you are too happy about a win, you won’t be able to win the next match so you can’t let a win go to your head.
As for treating myself as a reward for doing well, in the past I thought I shouldn’t waste money on luxuries but, recently, I’ve rewarded myself by buying clothes or electronics products and hope that rewarding myself will spur me to achieve more success.
Q.
When they have a setback many players have a motto that they use to encourage themselves to hang on and keep trying. Do you have such a motto?
A：
It’s inevitable that matches will be lost or form will drop. In my opinion, the most important thing is to stay confident so I always tell myself : “Be confident in your ability!”
Q.
What do you do to distract yourself when you are feeling down?
A：
When I have time off I get together with friends and drink a little wine and relax. You have to release the built up stress or you might end up feeling really low and won’t be able to carry on.
Having a drink and letting off steam helps lift my spirits.When I am feeling low I prefer to go and walk about, especially in places where there are a lot of people, rather than staying cooped up in a room alone.
2012 VICTOR KOREA PREMIUM SUPERSERIES RUNNER UP : Lee Yong Dae
Q.
Apart from badminton what other sports do you enjoy?
A：
I don’t have time to do other sports but I sometimes watch baseball games.
Q.
Have you ever thought about what you would do if you didn’t play badminton?
A：
I am not academically minded so if I wasn’t a badminton player I’d probably do some other sport. At one time my parents wanted me to play baseball.
The next article “The little brother of all Korea badminton fans-Lee Yong Dae (3)” will introduce more about Lee Yong Dae in detail.
( Edit by VICTOR Badminton )
