Badminton: Lee returns to Olympics in Rio

E —  va Lee makes it sound almost accidental. One day she was puttering around on a side court while her parents played a serious version of badminton, and not soon after, she was racking up national and international championships and darting onto the Olympic stage at the 2008 Games in Beijing, China.

Now, with her 30th birthday looming early during her stay in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the U.S. badminton doubles veteran tries to leave nothing to chance.

“We are on the court five or six days a week for two or three hours in the morning,” Lee, a UC Irvine graduate, said of she and her partner, 31-year-old Paula Lynn Obanana. “And on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and sometimes Saturdays, we drive about 90 minutes to Woodland Hills to do strength and conditioning.”

Lee, who was born in Hong Kong, but now lives in Diamond Bar and trains frequently at the Orange County Badminton Club in Anaheim, has won 20 national championships since taking the U.S. Junior Nationals by storm in 1998. She has also claimed 26 international gold medals since 2002, including 16 women’s doubles titles, the most recent the being the 2016 Austrian Open.

It was boredom that set in while accompanying her parents to badminton gyms that led to her initial dabbling in the game, Lee said. But her first junior nationals were, well, humbling.

“It was fun to play with different kids and it was an interesting experience,” Lee said of the 1997 junior national tournament. “But I lost pretty badly. I decided then to start training.”

One year later, payback for her opponents was merciless.

“I got a lot of coaches and parents mad at me because I basically [shut out] everyone into the singles and doubles finals [en route to winning the under-12 singles and mixed doubles titles and capturing the under-14 girls; doubles crown in 1998],” Lee said. “I like proving myself to people that thought I couldn’t be good.”

Lee, who came to American at a young age and considers her badminton skills “strictly made in America,” said she qualified for the 2008 Olympics almost as an afterthought.

“My [then-doubles partner and I] were really thinking more of 2012,” Lee said. “But I qualified in 2008 for singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles, though USA Badminton chose to send only women’s doubles and singles. My goal [in 2008] was not the Olympics, but there I was standing in the middle of the Bird’s Nest [Beijing’s Olympic stadium] wondering ‘How did I get here?’”

There was disappointment in 2012, when what Lee said was an administrative error by USA Badminton prevented her and Obanana from competing in one tournament that would have allowed them to reach the qualification points standard. Instead, she wound up not qualifying for the London Olympics.

“It was very disappointing, very unfortunate and just so sad,” Lee said of missing the 2012 Olympics when she was at her physical prime. “So, we decided to try for one more [Olympic team].”

Lee, who earned her degree in biological sciences from UCI in 2013, said heading to her second Olympics is gratifying. But, known for her level head on the court, she said she was anything but giddy this time around.

“When I qualified this time, it was, you know, kind of like my second Olympics, which is exciting, but not as exciting as the first,” said Lee, who leaves for Brazil on Monday and is scheduled to compete Aug. 11-18. “I think I’ll be more calm and less excited about everything and be able to keep my head and not be distracted.”

Lee is a front set-up player, while Obanana is deemed a back player. But their responsibilities are often interchangeable, based on the strategy of opponents and the flow of play.

Lee said strategy and the fast-paced nature of the game are what she most loves about it.

“It’s kind of complicated at times,” Lee said. “It’s like chess. As a front player, you have to be faster, and we really do a lot of jumping and explosive stuff.”

Lee was eliminated early at the Beijing Games, but this time, the format includes group play (four teams in each group), before the top two teams in each of the four groups advance to the knockout round that begins with the quarterfinals.

Is a medal plausible?

“Of course,” Lee, who noted she and Obanana have been ranked as high as No. 17 in the world, said. “Every athlete wants to medal. I know it will be very difficult, but I hope to medal or at least do well. I’d love to bring home a medal, because I think it can make badminton better known [in the U.S.].”