Canada’s Victor Lai secured the men’s singles bronze medal once again at the badminton world championships held on Saturday. The 21-year-old athlete from Markham, Ontario, who was seeded seventh, faced a defeat in the semifinals against European champion Alex Lanier from France with a score of 16-21, 21-13, 21-14 at the Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi.
In this tournament, both semifinalists who do not progress to the final stage are awarded bronze medals. Lai made history last year by clinching Canada’s inaugural medal at a badminton world championship after defeating 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew from Singapore in the quarterfinals in Paris.
This year, Lai achieved a victory over Loh in the round of 16 and later triumphed over Rasmus Gemke from Denmark in the quarterfinals, securing his second world championship medal. Notably, Lai has significantly improved his world ranking, rising from 50th to seventh place over the past year.