Lee Chong Wei insisted he was not ready to retire from playing badminton professionally as he aimed to play at Tokyo 2020.

The 36-year-old was diagnosed with nose cancer in July, which saw him miss several tournaments including the BWF World Championships and the Asian Games as he underwent treatment in Taiwan.

After being discharged and allowed to return to the country last month, it was widely speculated that he would call time on his career.

During a press conference held at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday, Lee admitted retirement was at the back of his mind, but he did not want to go down without a fight.

"I love badminton, so I will try my very best to come back to the court soon.

"I already started training and doing workout for the past two weeks to regain my body weight and fitness.

"I cannot say 100% that I can come back. Last time I know my body well [so I know whether I can go on or not] but as I just finished my treatment, I don't know my condition. I must train and go back to the court first.

"If my condition is good, I will continue playing; if it isn't and I cannot train as hard I want to, then I have to stop," he said during the press conference, which was his first public appearance since his cancer diagnosis.

He added that he just came back from his final round of treatment in Taiwan yesterday and his doctor was happy with his recovery progress

Lee also said, if he could regain his match fitness, it should not be a problem for him to qualify for his fifth Summer Olympics in 2020 and fight for a gold medal.

[Tokyo 2020] is one and half years away and will be the last fight for me. Winning a gold medal at the Olympics has always been my dream and target.

"If I'm just going to Tokyo 2020 for holiday, then there is no point for me to go and it will be better to let our younger players go instead.

"Regardless, my main priority for now is my health."