Victor Lai claims second straight bronze at badminton world championships
One year after Victor Lai made history by winning Canada’s first ever medal at the badminton world championships, the 21-year-old matched his 2025 result, earning another bronze in New Delhi, India.
Lai came in to the 2026 BWF World Championships ranked a career-high seventh in the world. He then won all four of his matches in straight sets leading up to the semifinal.
His path included wins against Singapore’s 13th-ranked Kean Yew Loh (who he also defeated en route to his bronze medal in 2025) in the round of 16 and unseeded Norwegian Rasmus Gemke in the quarterfinals.
READ: Victor Lai wins Canada’s first ever medal at badminton world championships
Lai matched up against the ninth seed, 2025 European champion Alex Lanier, in the semifinal. Lai jumped out to a 12-5 lead and looked to have the upper hand after taking the first set, 21-16. The Canadian also led early in the second set, but fatigue started to set in toward the end of the set and Lanier took it 21-13.
It was the same story in the deciding set; Lai kept it close early but Lanier proved to be the aggressor, ultimately winning 21-14. Lanier went on to win the gold medal, defeating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the final.
“I knew he’s physically probably the strongest player on the Tour, so he can always keep up his speed and his power for the whole three games,” Lai told media following the match. “So that’s just kudos to him, and that’s something I need to work on.”
In badminton, bronze medals are awarded to both semifinalists who do not advance to the final. Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei also got a bronze medal.
“Of course I’m really proud. I wanted a different colour medal than last year, but I’m so proud of the way I handled the pressure and the expectations. I fought through some pretty tough matches to get into the semifinals today,” Lai said.
Lai had climbed the ranks throughout 2026 thanks to some very impressive results, particularly his victory at the Indonesia Open in June which made him the first Canadian—and first athlete from the Pan American region—to win a BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament. He had also won his second straight title at the Pan American Championships and reached the podium at several other BWF World Tour events.
In other results, Michelle Li reached the world championship quarterfinals in women’s singles for the first time since 2022, but fell to second seed Akana Yamaguchi of Japan.
