The ruling men's single world no. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia bagged the 2016 BWF Best Male Player of the Year Award in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Monday evening beating other top guns of the racquet sport.

It was the Malaysian badminton icon's fifth prestigious annual recognition from the badminton's governing body. Lee has previously achieved the Player of the Year honor in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013, according to the report of the International Business Times.

Like Us on Facebook

The 34-year-old Kuala Lumpur-based multi-titled male shuttler got the better of the Chinese reigning Summer Olympic Games titleholder Chen Long, Dubai Destination top-ranked Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark, China's doubles pairings of Zhang Nan and Fu Haifeng, and Malaysia's Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong for the highly regarded BWF yearly commendation.

Lee is considered to be one of the badminton's greatest players of all time. He continued to capture the hearts and the admirations of the millions of fans who follow the sport worldwide. With 65 career singles titles under his name, the three-time Olympic silver medalist remained a formidable opponent in every badminton tournament that he is taking part of.

This year, he won three World Superseries titles, one Grand Prix Gold, and a Continental Individual Championships crown. Aside from taking the second highest honor in the last quadrennial sporting event, Lee also claimed his 11th Malaysia Open, sixth Indonesia Open, and sixth Japan Open this season along with his fifth Malaysia Masters and his second Asia Championship trophy.

Meanwhile, the dynamic Japanese duo of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi claimed the Female Player of the Year honor after winning the Olympic gold medal last August in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and won four BWF Superseries crowns this year, according to the official website of the BWF.

The BWF gave Indian badminton star PV Sindhu the Most Improved Player award and China's Chen Qingchen received the Eddy Choong Award for Most Promising Player of the Year.

TagsLee Chong Wei, bwf, Chen Long, pv sindhu, BWF World Superseries, Rio Olympics 2016