2015 In 2015, he became the junior champion in the Perak and Selangor Badminton Open. These standout performances and wins in the international circuit earned him a place in the
Badminton Association of Malaysia.
2016 In November 2016, Lee won a bronze medal in the
World Junior Championships after losing to
Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in the semifinals. In the same month, he advanced to the final of India International Series but was defeated by
Lakshya Sen.
2018 In October 2018, Lee reached the final of the
Chinese Taipei Open by defeating the World No. 4 men's singles player,
Chou Tien-chen in the semifinals. He defeated
Riichi Takeshita in the final to win his first
BWF World Tour title and second international title overall. In doing so, he became the second Malaysian other than
Lee Chong Wei to win a BWF top flight men's singles title since 2013. Lee then reached the final of the
Korea Masters but lost to
Son Wan-ho.
2019 Lee started the 2019 season by competing in the
Thailand Masters. He lost in the quarter-finals to
Brice Leverdez of France in straight games. In the next tournaments, he also finished in the quarter-finals in
Malaysia Masters,
Indonesia Masters, and
German Open. He later lost in the early stage of
Swiss,
Malaysia, and
Singapore Open's. In August, Lee finally managed to make it into the semi-finals in the
Thailand Open, where he lost to
Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan. This was nonetheless an improvement to his being a quarter finalist in
New Zealand and
Indonesia Open's. He qualified to compete in
2019 World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, but lost to the World No. 1 men's singles player and the eventual World Champion,
Kento Momota of Japan in the quarter-finals. In November, he was forced to retire in the second round of the
China Open, and decided to withdraw as well from the next tournament in
Hong Kong, due suffering from food poisoning and fever. Lee reached world No. 11 in the BWF World ranking on 12 November. In December, he won the men's singles gold medal at the
SEA Games, and also helped the national men's team win the silver medal.
2020: Entering the Top 10 world rankings Lee opened the season by participating in Southeast Asian tours in
Malaysia,
Indonesia, and
Thailand Masters, with his best result being a semi-finalist in Malaysia, where he lost to
Kento Momota in straight games. In February, he was part of the Malaysia men's team, who won the silver medal at the
Asia Team Championships, which he was the national team captain. He won 4 out of 5 matches in the Asia Team Championships, losing the final to
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Later in March, due to the outbreak of
COVID-19 in Europe, the
German Open was cancelled. Lee's next tournament was the
All England Open, which was also his debut at the tournament because his ranking was previously too low to qualify. He won against
Jonatan Christie, who had won in four previous matches. He continued this win streak against
Lu Guangzu and the then-Olympic champion
Chen Long. In the semi-finals, he lost to
Viktor Axelsen. The match lasted for 73 minutes. Further, Lee's performance at the All England Open raised his world ranking to No. 10 on 17 March 2020.
2021: All England Open title, Olympic debut In March, Lee won his first Super 1000 tournament at the
All England Open, defeating the defending champion
Viktor Axelsen by a score of 30–29, 20–22, 21–9. In July, in the
2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Lee took part in the men's singles and won against
Artem Pochtarov with a score of 21–5 and 21–11. In the subsequent match against
Brice Leverdez, he won with a score of 21–17 and 21–5. Lee was eliminated in the round of 16, where he was defeated by
Chen Long with a score of 21–8, 19–21, and 5–21. In November, Lee reached the final of
Hylo Open, however Lee had to retire due to the injuries he sustained while playing against Singapore's
Loh Kean Yew with a score of 21–19, 13–21, 12–17. Lee ended the year at the
2021 World Championships in Huelva, where he retired from his quarterfinal match against eventual bronze medalist,
Anders Antonsen.
2022: Subsequent ban, Asian champion In January, there were speculation that Lee intended to leave the
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), citing unhappiness with the association's demands and wanting more freedom as a player. He eventually resigned on 19 January 2022. In response, Lee was banned for two years from participating in any international tournaments that required BAM's approval as well as any
Badminton World Federation (BWF)–sanctioned tournaments. With fellow players and the general public expressing dissatisfaction on BAM's decision, Lee appealed against the ban on 24 January 2022. The ban was lifted after Lee and BAM met on 25 January 2022, with the terms yet to be revealed. In May, Lee won his first title of the year, the
2022 Badminton Asia Championships, defeating Indonesia's
Jonatan Christie 21–17, 23–21 in straight sets. Lee became the sixth Malaysian men's singles player to win the Asian Championships title. On 22 May 2022, Lee won his first
BWF World Tour Super 500 title at the
2022 Thailand Open, defeating China's
Li Shifeng with a rubber set score of 17–21, 21–11, 23–21 in 70 minutes. In June, Lee participated in 3 events: the
Indonesia Masters, the
Indonesia Open and the
Malaysia Open, his home event. At the Indonesia Masters, Lee, the 5th seed, lost to the 4th seeded
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the quarter-finals in three games, 21–18, 15–21, 16–21. A week later, Lee lost to
Viktor Axelsen, the World No. 1 at the Indonesia Open semi-finals, with a score of 21–19, 11–21, 21–23 in 70 minutes. In late June, Lee took part in the Malaysia Open as the 5th seed. He surprisingly lost to Indonesia's
Shesar Hiren Rhustavito in the Round of 16 in three games, 19–21, 21–19, 16–21 in an hour and six minutes. Claiming injury, he decided to skip the
Commonwealth Games and focus on the upcoming World Championships which would be held in August. As the fifth seed in
2022 World Championships, he lost to China's shuttler
Zhao Junpeng in the third round in three games, with a match score of 19–21, 21–11, 19–21. The match lasted for an hour and five minutes. A week later, Lee lost to
Srikanth Kidambi, the former World No. 1 at the first round of
Japan Open, with a score of 20–22, 21–23 in 38 minutes. In October, Lee defeated former World Champion
Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, with a score of 21–18, 21–15 in 40 minutes and reached the
Denmark Open final before losing to
Shi Yuqi from China, with a score of 18–21, 21–16, 12–21 in 64 minutes. A few days later, Lee as 3rd seed in
French Open, was surprised with another defeat at the first round, with a score of 18–21, 19–21 to the same opponent,
Shesar Hiren Rhustavito from Indonesia that defeated him back in Malaysia Open earlier in June.
Australia Open was Lee's last hope of securing a final spot in the World Tour Finals. However, things did not go his way as one of his hands suffered a minor injury during the third game. He lost to
Lu Guangzu from China in 70 minutes with a scoreline of 22–20, 15–21, 16–21, thus ending Lee's hopes to enter the World Tour Finals as Lu claimed the final spot. In November, Lee decided to part ways with his coach
Indra Wijaya, citing that he seeks to try 'something new' by foregoing a coach.
2023: Slump, second Sudirman bronze at the 2023 President's Cup Lee opened the 2023 season on his home ground, the
Malaysia Open, but was defeated in the first round by the Japanese new rising player
Kodai Naraoka. The following week, he reached the second round of the
India Open, but was defeated by Chinese player
Li Shifeng. He competed in the
Indonesia Masters but lost in the second round to Hong Kong player
Ng Ka Long. Lee was called up to captain the Malaysian squad for the
2023 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships. In the round robin stage, he won against Bharath Lateesh of the United Arab Emirates and lost against
Prannoy H. S. of India. He won against
Lei Lanxi of China in the knockout stage. Lee was featured on digital billboard in
Times Square,
New York as part of badminton brand,
Victor's 55th anniversary on 9 March. Apart from Lee, other international badminton players such as
Tai Tzu-ying,
Anders Antonsen,
Apriyani Rahayu,
Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti,
Hendra Setiawan and
Mohammad Ahsan, were also on display. This makes Lee the first Malaysian badminton player to be featured on a Times Square billboard. He competed in the
German Open but lost in the second round to Chinese Taipei player
Lee Chia-hao. On 26 April, Lee competed in the
2023 Badminton Asia Championships. He lost to Ng Ka Long in the first round with a score of 19–21, 16–21 in straight sets in 39 minutes and failed to defend his Asian Championships title. In May, Lee represented Malaysia in the
2023 Sudirman Cup. He gain a 5 win streak against Ricky Tang,
Srikanth Kidambi,
Chou Tien-chen,
Viktor Axelsen who retired in the quarterfinals, and
Jeon Hyeok-jin. In the semifinals, Lee won against Korea in the men's single, but the Malaysia team lost to Korea with a 1–3 score and ended the tournament with a bronze medal. On 23 May, Lee announced on social media that he has enlisted Wong Tat Meng, previously the singles' head coach in Hong Kong, as his new coach. In the home event
2023 Malaysia Masters, Lee defeated
Lu Guangzu of China in straight games in the first round but was defeated by
Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei in rubber games in the second round. In June, Lee competed in the
2023 Singapore Open. He lost in the first round to Chinese player
Weng Hongyang with a score of 20–22, 21–16, 19–21 in 64 minutes. Lee also competed in the
2023 Indonesia Open. He again lost in the first round to Indian player
Lakshya Sen with a score of 17–21, 13–21 in straight games in only 33 minutes. In response to his string of early exits in 2023 and dropping out of the top 10, he stated in a BWF interview that he considered taking a break from badminton tournaments. In October, Lee joined Malaysia's squad at the
2022 Asian Games. He lost against
Jeon Hyeok-jin at the men's team event, in which Malaysia conceded a 1–3 defeat against Korea. Lee fared better at the
individual events, where he ended his four-match losing streak against Ng Ka Long and upset world champion
Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the second round. His journey ended in the quarter-finals against the eventual bronze medalist,
Prannoy H. S. After 17 months from his last title at the
2022 Thailand Open in May, Lee finally managed to overcome early exits in the 2023 BWF World Tour season and won his first title of the year at the
2023 Arctic Open, defeating fellow Malaysian
Ng Tze Yong 21–14, 21–15 in the final. He then entered his second consecutive final at the
Denmark Open the following week. He was defeated by Weng Hongyang in straight sets, settling for second-best two years in a row.
2024: Winning two titles and an Olympic bronze medal In the home event
Malaysia Open, Lee suffered from yet another first round defeat after losing to Lu Guangzu of China with a score of 21–16, 19–21, 15–21. Lee reached the quarter-finals of the
India Open where he was defeated by Kodai Naraoka of Japan with a score of 21–13, 9–21, 16–21. Lee again reached the quarter-finals of the
Indonesia Masters where he retired against
Brian Yang of
Canada due to
food poisoning. In another first round defeat, Lee lost to
Magnus Johannesen of
Denmark with a score of 15–21, 19–21 in the
French Open. In the
2024 All England Open, Lee as a former champion in 2021 did not regain the title after he only reached the quarter-finals where he narrowly lost to
Lakshya Sen of India with a score of 22–20, 16–21, 19–21. In the
2024 Swiss Open, Lee as top seed of the tournament crashed out in the second round to
Srikanth Kidambi 16–21,15-21 after a foot injury. In the
2024 Badminton Asia Championships, Lee was defeated by
Jonatan Christie in the quarter-finals 21–11, 21–6. Lee was crowned as champion at the
2024 Thailand Open after beating
Ng Ka Long in the final 21–11, 21–10. In the
2024 Malaysia Masters, Lee went into his second final in a row but lost to top seed of the tournament
Viktor Axelsen 6-21, 22–20, 13-21 due to a foot injury he sustained during the quarter-final against
Anders Antonsen. Lee conceded a walkover in the first round of the
2024 Singapore Open to
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting from an injury he sustained from the
2024 Malaysia Masters. In the
2024 Indonesia Open, Lee was eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing to
Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand with a score of 16–21, 17–21. Lee proved 2024 to be his breakthrough year after he broke his record of winning only a title in a year by taking the second one in the
2024 Australia Open, defeating
Kodai Naraoka of Japan in rubber set of a score of 21–19, 11–21 and 21–18 in final. At the
2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Lee took bronze after winning against India's
Lakshya Sen. After losing 13-21 in the first game, Lee overcame a 5-point deficit to win 21-16 in the second game, and 21-11 in the decider to win the bronze medal match.
2025: Injury, return and early exits In the
2025 World Championships, Lee returned to tournament after a long break due to right ankle ligament injury that he sustained during the 2024 World Tour Finals, but had to exit at the first round after losing to
Jeon Hyeok-jin of Korea. Lee later competed at the
Hong Kong Open, he was again defeated at the first round. In the
China Masters, Lee was forced to retire again after injuring at the first round. == Awards and recognition ==