It took time but Lee Cheuk Yiu has come to realise the solution to his struggles does not begin with a new shot or change in tactics.
At the start of 2025, a runner-up finish at the India Open suggested he was set for a promising season. But in the tournaments that followed, early exits piled up and frustration crept in.
That’s when Lee – once world No.13 but now 22nd – began to look deeper, at his own habits.
“Always, mentality is my main problem in my life,” the Hong Kong China shuttler says candidly. “So I’ve been trying to change my routine in life. I want to be more organised – the timing of eating, sleeping, rest, I need to manage that better.”
It’s a shift that sounds simple, almost mundane, but for an elite athlete competing in one of the sport’s most unforgiving disciplines, it can be transformative.
The changes aren’t just physical, they are reshaping his mental approach too.
On court, the difference is subtle but telling. Where emotion once pushed him to rush or chase control, he is now learning restraint.
“I need to improve and calm down more,” he says. “To play each point and do my best in every match. In men’s singles now, every player is the same. On his day, anyone can beat anyone.
“If I’m angry or rushed, maybe I move faster but I need to save energy.”
This season has already offered small but meaningful signs. A quarterfinal finish at the Malaysia Open and steady performances during the European leg at the German Open and All England may not make headlines, but they reflect something more important – a foundation beginning to hold.
That foundation will be tested next week in Ningbo, China, where Lee opens his Badminton Asia Championships 2026 against Lakshya Sen – a familiar opponent he leads 3-2 in career meetings, with win No.3 coming in the Malaysia Open second round just three months ago.
Lee knows results won’t change overnight. He hasn’t won a title since the 2019 Hong Kong Open and the gap is a reminder of how difficult the climb back can be.
“A big target for this year is to be consistent,” he said. “And maybe go for a title or two.”
Beyond that lies a longer vision: the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. For Lee, that goal is no longer about peak performance in a single moment but the daily habits that make such moments possible.
Because in the end, his transformation will not be defined by one victory or one tournament.
It will be defined by routine.
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