The pair met in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic finals and in finals at the BWF World Championships in 2011 and 2013.

Lin won gold on each occasion, but Lee won 47 BWF Super Series and World Tour titles and was ranked world number one for 347 weeks.

"Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan were among the foremost ambassadors of badminton over a major part of the last two decades," BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer said.

"With their outstanding performances, they drew whole generations of fans to the sport, they both richly deserve to be inducted into the Hall of Fame."

The two began their senior international careers at around the same time and their paths crossed with astonishing regularity.

Between them they contested five Olympic and 10 BWF World Championship finals.

Lee did beat Lin at last in the Rio 2016 semi-final but lost in the gold medal match to Lin’s compatriot Chen Long.

Lin won five world singles titles in addition to his two Olympic gold medals.

He was also a key member of the Chinese team which won the Thomas Cup for the World Men’s Team Championship on six occasions.

He also collected Asian Games singles gold in 2010 and 2014 and three team gold medals.

Lee meanwhile was a dominant force in the Commonwealth Games with three successive singles gold medals and victories in the team competition at Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010.

Lee retired in 2019 after he had been diagnosed with nose cancer.

Lin posted a tribute to his rival on the Chinese social media site Weibo, with the message that he would "head into battle alone as I no longer have a companion."

Of the 40 meetings between the two, Lin won 28.

Lin retired from playing in 2020 aged 37.

The induction ceremony for both is set to take place at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia on May 26.