Armortec 800 Defensive
Model AT-800DE · Lee Yong-dae, Hendra Setiawan, Liliyana Natsir
Price history
Chart: monthly median of verified pre-owned sales · USD · methodology
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Armortec 800 Defensive: a 2004 doubles racquet still winning world titles in 2007
Three finalists on one racquet
At the 2007 World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Yonex’s report lists three of the four men’s doubles finalists on the Armortec 800 Defensive. Indonesia’s Hendra Setiawan won the title with Markis Kido, who played the Armortec 700, beating Korea’s Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae, both on the Defensive, 21–19, 21–19. In the mixed doubles Nova Widianto, also on the Defensive, won with Liliyana Natsir 21–16, 21–14 over Zheng Bo and Gao Ling. The racquet was three years old by then, and Yonex Japan had ended its production in 2006. Its sister, the Armortec 800 Offensive, appears in none of Yonex’s reports from that season.
Built for the partner who receives
Yonex Japan launched the Armortec 800 in late April 2004 as two racquets at one price, ¥23,000 before tax, and called it an industry-first concept: a model made only for doubles. The Defensive was the half for the partner who receives and builds the rally. Yonex Japan promised deep receives, high-speed drives, a softer flex for easy counterattacks and quick racquet work, and later described a light, quick swing-through and a supple shaft. Yonex’s export page gave it an aero-shaped frame “for DEFENSIVE play” and rated it stiff, one grade below the extra-stiff Offensive, so its softness was relative. It shared the 800’s single-pass stringing, with extra grommet holes at 10 and 2 o’clock that Yonex’s US copy said protected the frame top from clashes with a partner’s racquet.
From Eng Hian to a new generation
Its first users explained the idea at the 2004 Yonex Open Japan. Eng Hian, who had found the Armortec 700 a bit too stiff, said the Defensive was far quicker on drives and receives, and that his main job beside Flandy Limpele was to control the shuttle so Limpele could smash. Candra Wijaya called himself the partner who makes the shuttle, while admitting the Offensive felt better overhead. Sigit Budiarto liked its receive power, and Zhang Jiewen said it suited women without big power. Several of them later moved on, Budiarto and Cai Yun to the 2007 Armortec 900 Technique and Wijaya to the 900 Power. A new generation took the Defensive up: Yonex’s 2007–08 reports name Korea’s Lee Yong-dae, Hwang Ji-man and Lee Jae-jin and Indonesia’s Setiawan, Widianto, Natsir, Luluk Hadiyanto and Greysia Polii on it, with Lee Yong-dae listed as a 2008 All England men’s doubles champion.
Shine Yellow, written DE or DF
The Defensive came in one color, Shine Yellow (Yonex Japan color 402), beside the Offensive’s Bright Orange, though a 2004 forum post called it green. Yonex wrote the name two ways: DE in the product code AT800-DE and many reports, DF on Liliyana Natsir’s player page, on Yonex USA’s 2005 page and in some 2007–08 reports. Yonex Japan and its export pages listed 4U (80–84.9 g) and 3U (85–89.9 g) versions, while Yonex USA carried only the 4U. Yonex published no balance figure, and a US retailer’s spec sheet coded it even. It was made in Japan, with no special or player edition. Yonex even recommended different strings for each half: BG75 Ti and Micron 80 for the Defensive, BG65 Power and BG88 Ti for the Offensive.
Short in the shops, long on tour
Verified sales of the 800 Defensive so far come from the Asian resale market and are mostly pre-owned; the price panel above lists them, with new and pre-owned valued separately, and the unused figure rests on too few sales to be more than an estimate. The Defensive was sold new for only a few years: Yonex Japan ended production in 2006, Yonex’s global list dropped the pair by June 2007, and Yonex China still listed it in March 2008. Its professional life ran longer. Yonex’s reports show it in finals through mid-2008, and Natsir’s player page listed it until at least September 2011, though such pages could lag. None of that attaches to any individual frame for sale. Examples are now around two decades old, so the weight code, the condition of the head and T-joint and any repairs matter most.
Copies and naming
The pair was copied within months of launch: in October 2004 BadmintonCentral members judged a gray-green, short-framed “Armortec 800” with mismatched market codes an obvious fake. For the Defensive, naming causes more confusion than copying. Yonex itself used both DE and DF, so either spelling in a listing is not a warning sign by itself, but an orange frame sold as a Defensive is an Offensive. Yonex’s 2011 counterfeit warning, which covered all its racquets, described many copies on internet auction sites as crude and easy to break.
The half that lasted
Yonex never explained why its 2007–08 reports name the Defensive so often and the Offensive not at all. The record offers only hints. BadmintonCentral’s first review thread reported in April 2004 that most players at the Yonex Open had preferred the Defensive in practice, and later posters called it the more forgiving of the two. In 2007 Budiarto told Yonex that the new 900 Technique’s head speed was faster than his Defensive’s, and a 2009 review called the Technique an improved 800 Defensive. When Yonex returned to a doubles pair in 2018, the Astrox 88 S and 88 D, it developed them with advice from Lee Yong-dae. The D in 88 D stands for Dominate and marks the back-court racquet, so it is not a namesake of the Defensive, and Yonex has not linked the two pairs.
The Defensive is Shine Yellow (Yonex Japan color 402); an orange frame is the Offensive, and a gray-green one matches a fake reported in 2004. Yonex’s own pages use both DE and DF, so either marking is plausible. It should be marked made in Japan and weigh as a 4U (80–84.9 g) or 3U (85–89.9 g); Yonex made no 2U. Yonex listed the frame as 10 mm longer than standard, and the frame top should have extra grommet holes at 10 and 2 o’clock. Yonex’s 2011 counterfeit guidance gives four checks: the hologram sticker should be hard to peel; the YONEX logo should be crisp, since a wide, round O is a common sign of a fake; the production code on the cap above the handle should be laser-engraved, not printed; and the butt cap should match Yonex’s green.
The 800 Defensive is the better-documented half of Yonex’s first doubles pair: the racquet of Eng Hian and Candra Wijaya at its 2004 launch and of leading Korean and Indonesian doubles players through 2008, including two 2007 world champions. It belongs beside the Offensive, since Yonex designed the two for partners. Look for a Japan-made Shine Yellow frame in 4U or 3U with a sound head, grommet area and T-joint, and ask for clear photos of the engraved codes before paying.
Verified prices last updated Sep 2026. All data based on tracked secondary market transactions.