Lee, who was diagnosed with early stage nose cancer last year, said he opted to retire after being told by doctors that his body could no longer take the intense training needed for high-level competition.
In an open letter, BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said the decision to go ahead with the All England Championships was made based on the best advice at that time. "It has been very disappointing to see some members of the badminton community speculate on the sincerity and motives of the BWF in this time of crisis," Lund wrote.
The struggle of Indian women shuttlers on the BWF circuit is quite apparent, but Saina Nehwal backs her colleagues by saying that even the strong Chinese players are finding it difficult to dish out strong performances on a consistent basis and expressed hope that the lean patch of the singles players will end soon.
The top-seeded Indian pair lost in straight games against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia in Birmingham on Thursday.
The emotional and financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic is weighing on Indian shuttler HS Prannoy's mind and he believes that the already "bleak" scenario would only get worse if things don't take a turn for the better in one and a half month's time. The coronavirus outbreak, which has killed over 40,000 globally, has put countries in lockdown and halted sports, including badminton, across the world. It has also triggered financial and mental woes across the world.
P V Sindhu advanced to the second round after her opponent Li Yvonne Li of Germany retired after the first game.
Defending champion Lakshya Sen pulled out of the SaarLorLux Open Super 100 tournament after his father-cum-coach D K Sen tested positive for COVID-19 in Saarbrucken.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty enjoyed another memorable 'Evening in Paris', lifting the French Open badminton crown for the second time with a dominating straight-game victory over Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in the men's doubles final in Paris on Sunday.
The batting icon is set to be part of a conglomerate to buy the Mumbai Masters franchise in the event.
National badminton coach, Pullela Gopichand, on Wednesday expressed happiness at the performance this year of Indian shuttlers and termed Kidambi Srikanth's feat of winning four Super Series titles as 'phenomenal'.
Tennis star Rohan Bopanna, who is set to be crowned world number one in the doubles format, was on Thursday selected for the prestigious Padma Shri honour by the government along with six other athletes including veteran squash player Joshna Chinappa.
Young shuttler Tanisha Crasto believes she and doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa have the game to match the world's best.
Ace Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth sailed into the pre-quarterfinals of their respective singles events after scoring comfortable victories at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.
Eight women badminton players were disqualified by the sport's federation from the London Games competition, the federation said on Wednesday, after they tried to lose matches in a bid to secure a more favourable draw.
India's PV Sindhu fought her heart out before going down narrowly to Thailand's Supanida Katethong in the women's singles quarterfinals of the Madrid Spain Masters Super 300 badminton tournament in Madrid on Friday.
Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat said the game was only about Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan at the moment.
Unheralded Indian Subhankar Dey shocked multiple time World and Olympic champion Lin Dan 22-20, 21-19 to enter the quarter-finals of the SaarLorLux Open Badminton Championship.
Kidambi Srikanth's experience at the Thailand tour has been far from pleasant
In mixed doubles, K Sai Pratheek and Tanisha Crasto prevailed 21-18, 21-14 over Macau's Leong Iok Chong and Weng Chi NG to make a winning start.
Another triumphant story was written in Indian badminton as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty romped to a stunning comeback win.
Lakshya Sen, his father and physio reached Bangalore, Dey and Jayaram took a flight from Frankfurt to Delhi.
The Indian women's badminton team crashed out of the Uber Cup after losing to Japan in the quarter-finals in Aarhus, Denmark on Thursday while the men completed their group engagements in the Thomas Cup with a defeat to China.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy emerged victorious over the England pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their final Group A match but still missed out on qualifying for the quarter-finals in the men's doubles badminton at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday.
The seasoned Ashwini Ponnappa and her partner Rohan Kapoor entered the second round in the mixed doubles on the opening day of the Syed Modi India International badminton event in Lucknow on Tuesday.
The core of the team remains the same with HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in good form and the Indian team would hope the rub of the green also goes their way when it begins campaign on Thursday.
Home favourites Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in a tense final against world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Sang Jae at India Open, settling for their second successive runners-up finish, in New Delhi on Sunday.
The Badminton World Federation's proposal to reduce on-court coaching and tweak the scoring system has left international coaches a confused lot with the likes of Pullela Gopichand and Kenneth Jonassen questioning the very logic of such a move.
Set to return after an injury-induced break, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is aware the road to Paris will be "challenging" and she needs to be "smarter" in her pursuit of coveted gold medal in the French capital.
The actress bagged the runners-up position in the women's doubles and mixed doubles at the state level championship.
Up against Shruti Mundada in the pre-quarters, Saina had a look at the surface and immediately made it clear that she won't risk playing on it given that the All England Championships are around the corner.
The fixtures of the inaugural edition of the Indian Badminton League which kicks-off on August 14.
World number four Ratchanok Intanon has been cleared of an anti-doping violation, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on Monday, paving the way for the Thai medal hope to compete at the Rio Olympics.
P V Sindhu and H S Prannoy sailed into the quarter-finals of the women's and men's singles badminton event with easy victories at the Asian Games.
With a badminton racquet in hand and a song on mind, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh met Indian ace badminton player Saina Nehwal on the sets of his upcoming film Dilwale.
Priyanshu toiled hard for one hour 14 minutes before losing 21-18, 14-21, 17-21.
Indian shuttler Anand Pawar went down fighting against Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia in a thrilling men's singles final of the Brazil Open Grand Prix, in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, on Sunday.
The Indian mixed badminton team claimed its maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal, thrashing three-time defending champions Malaysia in the final, in Gold Coast.
I want a room full of medals before retiring, says Chirag Shetty
Lakshya Sen is aware that his Olympic qualification is still in choppy waters but said he has been working on his "variations" and "deceptions" during the off-season to regain his world's top-10 position and seal his Paris Games berth.
Sports Solutionz, the promoters of the Indian Badminton League, are contemplating legal action against the Badminton Association of India in the wake of reports it has terminated the tournament agreement with them.
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