After his turf moved from the court to the sidelines, Li performed more miracles for the Chinese badminton team. One climax in his coaching career came when his squad lifted the trophy of the Sudirman Cup again after a four-year absence on May 15, 2005. This achievement made China the first country to win all three major team badminton championships: Thomas Cup, Uber Cup and Sudirman Cup.

"The most memorable moment as a coach is when the men's team won the Thomas Cup on May 17, 2004," said Li. "I had been waiting for this trophy for 11 years."

When Li retired as an athlete in 1992 and became a coach of the national team, he found himself heading a team in the midst of a generational shift. It was at its lowest point. The only regret for Li as an athlete is that he never won a championship at the Olympic Games. His only Olympic medal was a bronze medal from the Barcelona Olympics. However, he has been making up for his lack of personal gold by churning out Olympic gold medallists during his coaching tenure. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Chinese team pocketed four of the five gold medals. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, China took three. Earlier in his coaching career, Li once said he would not retire as a coach without 100 new world championship titles under his reign. He is halfway toward this ambitious goal.

Difficult choices

Li is having a hard time selecting the most qualified from his long list of excellent athletes for 2008 Olympics.

"The Chinese national badminton team is overcrowded with top-ranked players," Li said. "In several events, I have more than one player at the same level. There will be a painful selection process for me no matter who shows up on the court of Beijing Olympics next August."

Li said one small barrier to China taking all the gold medals is the new changes in the scoring system from a 15-point to a 21-rally point system. "This is bad news for Chinese team since the 21-point system makes the games more prolonged and more likely to produce surprises," said Li. Yet this worry has not created practical threat to China's dominance. Under the new scoring system, China swept all five gold medals at the 2005 Invitational Badminton World Cup, repeating the feat of 17 years ago. In 2006, the Chinese men's team succeeded in defending its Thomas Cup while the women's team defended its Uber Cup.

Only one year away from the showdown at the Beijing Olympic Games, the atmosphere at the training courts for the national badminton teams is relaxed. Some star members have managed to fit public appearances in between training sessions.

All is fair in love and badminton

Li is known as a strict coach. But unlike his predecessors he is quite open about athletes falling in love. "I don't forbid athletes' becoming boyfriends and girlfriends, and I don't think I have right to interfere," Li said. "My general attitude is that love affairs should not occupy too much time or energy." Li said one regulation for his team states that falling in love should not stand in the way of training or competition. "Compromise must be made on every aspect that affects their sports career," Li said.

Among all coaches of national teams, Li's attitude toward athletes' falling in love is quite tolerant. Li said he has spotted a big advantage of this phenomenon. He said many couples on his team choose to spend their spare time together on the training court, mainly practicing small skills that they learn from each other. "This period of time can help them to boost their performance," said Li. Now the national badminton team has around six couples and they don't have to hide their love relationships.

Li has his own love story to tell. He met his wife Xie Ying, a rhythmic gymnast, when he was an athlete as well. At the time they trained at the same sports school. "I got the first opportunity to talk with her when the bulb of her dorm broke and her roommate asked me for help," said Li. "After repairing the bulb, I chatted with Xie and played chess with her. I told her that I had a good collection of foreign music tapes, which were the envy of many girls at that time." Xie later became his girlfriend at the sports school.

"I am not strict about love affairs between my athletes," said Li. "I personally believe that as long as you can deal with it well, the love relationship can motivate the two people to perform better. At least, this is what happened to my wife and me. My first world championship crown came after she became my girlfriend."