▁part ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 4 . ▁ ▁Lee ▁participated ▁in ▁the ▁Thomas ▁Cup ▁in ▁his ▁home ▁ground . ▁He ▁managed ▁to ▁defeat ▁Ken ichi ▁T ago ▁and ▁take ▁the ▁first ▁point , ▁despite ▁Malays ia ' s ▁event ual ▁loss ▁( 2 – 3 ) ▁to ▁Japan . ▁In ▁the ▁quarter - final s , ▁he ▁beat ▁Peter ▁G ade , ▁thus ▁helping ▁to ▁secure ▁Malays ia ' s ▁place ▁in ▁the ▁semi - final s . ▁In ▁the ▁semi - final s ▁against ▁China , ▁Lee ▁was ▁defeated ▁by ▁Lin ▁Dan , ▁which ▁ended ▁his ▁ 1 8 - match ▁un be aten ▁record ▁since ▁the ▁start ▁of ▁the ▁year . ▁ ▁In ▁June , ▁Lee ▁participated ▁in ▁the ▁Singapore ▁Open ▁losing ▁in ▁the ▁quarter - final s . ▁However , ▁Lee ▁b ounced ▁back ▁winning ▁the ▁Indones ia ▁Open , ▁Malays ian ▁Open ▁Grand ▁Prix ▁Gold ▁in ▁July , ▁and ▁Mac au ▁Open ▁in ▁August . ▁In ▁late ▁August , ▁Lee ▁suffered ▁a ▁shock ▁exit ▁in ▁another ▁attempt ▁for ▁the ▁World ▁Championships , ▁but ▁was ▁be aten ▁by ▁T auf ik ▁H iday at ▁in ▁the ▁quarter - final s . ▁Mis b un ▁c ited ▁that ▁the ▁loss ▁was ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁back ▁injury ▁he ▁picked - up ▁after ▁the ▁match ▁against ▁Raj iv ▁O use ph ▁in ▁the ▁third ▁round . ▁On ▁ 2 6 ▁September , ▁Lee ▁beat ▁his ▁arch rival ▁Lin ▁Dan ▁in ▁the ▁Japan ▁Open , ▁the ▁only ▁title ▁not ▁taken ▁by ▁Chinese ▁players