Best Badminton Player of All Time? The Full List and Vote Now

Career record: 615 wins, 90 losses

You guessed it right; Li Dan takes the top spot given his achievements in the last 15 years he's been playing badminton professionally. The Chinese professional is the only player in the world who has completed the super GRAND SLAM at the age of 28. The super grand slam is considered the highest level of competition as it consists of the nine major titles in professional badminton.

Needless to say, he is considered a legend by many including his colleagues/rivals and once nicknamed super Dan by rival Peter Gade. With five world champions, six All England champion and two Olympic championships under his name, he comes out as one of the most decorated badminton players of all time. Furthermore, he's the only men's single player who has successfully defended his Olympic gold medal.

Lin Dan Badminton Racket:

2008 and before: Yonex Artmotech 700
2010 - 2013: Li Ning Woods N-90
2014 - 2016: Yonex Voltric Z Force 2
2016 - 2017: Yonex Voltric LD Force, Yonex DUORA Z STRIKE
2018: Yonex Voltric LD Force

Career record: 705 Wins, 134 Losses

He is the sixth Malaysian to take home an Olympic medal. He is also the first Malaysian to reach the men's singles finals in the Olympics and was skilled enough to win silver in both the 2012 and 2008 Olympics. He's been able to hold the World number one spot for close to 200 weeks between 2008 and 2012 becoming the only Malaysian to achieve it in history.

Lee Chong Wei Badminton Racket:

2010 and before: Yonex Armotech 900P
2010 - 2011: Yonex Voltric 80
2012 - 2014: Yonex Voltric Z Force
2014 - 2015: Yonex Voltric Z force 2
2016 - Current: Yonex Duora 10 LCW Frosty Blue

A retired player who has won the Indonesian Open 6 times. He's also won the men's singles competition in the Olympics in 2004 and the men's singles IBF World Championships in 2005. He's taken home bronze, silver and three gold medals from Asian competitions. He's also brought home two gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games, three bronze medals in the Thomas cup as well as two gold medals and a silver one.

Taufik Hidayat Racquets:

1997: Carbonex 20
2003: Armotec 700
2006: Armotec 900 Technique
2008: Arcsaber 10 (ARC10)
2009: Arcsaber Z-Slash
2013: Arcsaber 11

She is the most successful double badminton women players

Gao is a professional badminton player specializing in doubles and has an excellent record in top-tier competitions. She has 4 Olympic medals, and an additional 4 gold medals in the BWF World Championships which are among the 9 she has accumulated in the tournament. She and her partner Zhang Jun won consecutive gold medals in the 2004 and 2000 Olympics. She's also recorded successive wins in women's doubles between 2001 and 2006 in the All- England Championships.

The professional Spaniard is one of the best singles players in the world and the current Olympic Champion. She's been the world champion three times and won the European championships four times. She's also taken the number one spot in the world rankings when it comes to women singles in the BWF.

A former Indonesian champion who's well known for winning the men's competition at the All England Championship a record eight times. He's recorded seven consecutive wins between 1968 and 1974. He's also recognised for winning the BWF World Championships on his first attempt. He also won the 2nd IBF World Championships held in Jakarta in 1980 on his first attempt.

An excellent Danish player who was ranked as the best in the world between 1998 and 2001. He took a break from the number one spot for 5 years and regained it in June 22nd 2006. He has 22 Grand Prix titles making him one of the most successful players in the tournament.

Considered by most people as one of the most prestigious female badminton players of all time, Li who retired from professional badminton would also play doubles with partner Han Aiping. Together with partner Han, they led the international women's singles scene for a long time and also won the IBF World Championships in two occasions.

Seen as one of the greatest badminton players of all time in the doubles category. A former Olympic gold medalist and world champion. Although he's Indonesian and has won the championship for his country, he's also represented the United States. He has the 2005 world championships men's doubles gold medal to his name with his partner Howard Bach. He also won the 2001 world championships with his partner Halim. They even managed to win the All- England Open. He also managed to win the 2000 Olympics with Wijaya.

An excellent Chinese badminton player who is recognised for winning the Olympic gold medals twice (2004 and 2008). She's also collected 5 medals in the Women's singles World Championships between 2003 and 2007. She won the China Open, Chines Taipei Open, Proton Malaysian Open and the China Masters in 2005 among other domestic competitions.

She has three gold medals under her name and an extra three silver medals in the world championships all achieved in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. She got two gold medals in the World Grand Prix and took the lead in the World Badminton Federations championships. She has won the Japan open two times, the Malaysian open three times and the Hong Kong open 4 times through her career. She's been in the Badminton Hall of Fame for the year 1998.

Nicknamed Mr Badminton, the Danish player spent at least 12 years of his career at the top three spots in the world rankings. Although retired, he is recognised by the media and professional athletes as he has won almost all top-tier badminton competitions except the World Badminton Championships. He has won the All England on Badminton Championships 4 times and the European championships twice. He has also managed to achieve the Nordic championship 7 consecutive times between 1978 and 1984. He also did it again in 1988. At home, he also managed to win in the Denmark open 7 successive times between 1980 and 1986.

A Chinese international badminton player with two world championships under his name and the reigning Olympic Champion. He also has two All England Championships under his name. He also has gold for the 2016 Olympics and bronze for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He's made a good name for himself in the Asian competitions with 9 medals overall.

Chen Qingchen

Fu Haifeng

Zhao Yunlei

Lee Yong Dae

Kento Momota

Liem Swie King

Zhang Nan

Shon Wan-ho

Tai Tzu-ying

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo

Srikanth Kidambi

Saina Nehwal

Liliyana Natsir

Chou Tien-Chen

Chen Yufei

Li Xuerui

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon

Prakash Padukone

Chan Peng Soon

Ng Ka Long

Zhang Jun

Prannoy Kumar

Sung Ji-hyun

Huang Sui

Sai Praneeth Bhamidipati

Jonatan Christie

Hendra Setiawan

Sameer Verma

Nozomi Okuhara

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu

Anthony Ginting

Shi Yuqi

Rexy Mainaky

Pullela Gopichand

Yamaguchi Akane

Wang Yihan

Wang Shixian

Ashwini Ponnappa

Ratchanok Intanon