Alex Lanier is first Frenchman to secure badminton world c’ship men’s singles medal

SINGAPORE – At just 21, Alex Lanier became the first Frenchman to secure a Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships men’s singles medal when he came from behind to beat 2023 world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarter-finals on Aug 21.

Having lost the first game at the Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi, India, he looked out for the count as he trailed 3-11 in the second game, before bouncing back for an impressive 19-21, 21-16, 21-16 win over the world No. 2 in 78 minutes.

Despite his relatively young age, Lanier is already an accomplished player who captured the 2025 European Championship and five titles on the BWF World Tour, including the KFF Singapore Badminton Open on May 31, when he beat home favourite and 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew in the final.

But this could be his biggest achievement yet. Assured of at least bronze, he will take on world No. 7, Canada’s Victor Lai, on Aug 22 for a place in the final.

Lai is also a trailblazer, having won his country’s first medal in the competition when he claimed a men’s singles bronze in 2025. Also 21, he proved he is no fluke by beating 26th-ranked Dane Rasmus Gemke 21-19, 21-18 to reach the last four.

The other semi-final will be contested between world No. 11, Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, and sixth-ranked Taiwanese Chou Tien-chen, who is enjoying a second wind at age 36, having already won the Super 1000 China Open in July.

Lanier, ranked 10th, said: “I am a little bit tired, but I am also very proud of me, the way I managed. I got scared in the first (game), and at the start of the second, I lost myself. But I thought I should not leave the court with regrets, and definitely I have done well.

“The intensity was the key, but also changing the pace and accepting the rallies were definitely also important. He is extremely good at playing the rallies, and that you need to accept.”

Since the first world championships in 1977, France have picked up just two bronze medals through China-born Pi Hongyan’s women’s singles bronze in 2009, and Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue’s mixed doubles bronze in 2025.

World No. 5 Gicquel and Delrue will get the chance to add to their haul and improve on their previous showing, as they enjoyed a walkover win over fourth-ranked Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran from Thailand to make the semi-finals. They will meet world No. 2, China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin.

While the men’s singles semi-finals will not feature any of the world’s top five players, the women’s singles semi-finals will include the big three.

World No. 1 and 2023 world champion An Se-young of South Korea will take on third-ranked Wang Zhiyi from China, and world No. 2 and three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan will face 10th-ranked Pornpawee Chochuwong from Thailand.

Most of the top seeds also prevailed in the men’s doubles.

World No. 1 and defending champions Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae of South Korea will take on fourth-ranked Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, who won Malaysia’s first world championships gold in 2022, while 17th-ranked Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-hsuan of Chinese Taipei will meet No. 3 Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China.

In the women’s doubles semi-finals, China’s defending champions and world No. 1 Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning will look to get past India’s surprise packages and 39th-ranked Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Pullela for another crack at gold.

The other match-up is between world No. 3, South Korea’s Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee, and Asian champions and eighth-ranked Li Yijing and Luo Xumin from China.