Canada’s Victor Lai secured the men’s singles bronze medal once again at the badminton world championships held in New Delhi. The 21-year-old athlete, hailing from Markham, Ontario, and seeded seventh, faced a tough defeat in the semifinals against European champion Alex Lanier of France with a score of 16-21, 21-13, 21-14 at the Indira Gandhi Arena.
In this event, both semifinalists who do not progress to the final 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 of Singapore in the quarterfinals in Paris.
This year’s journey saw Lai defeating Loh in the round of 16 and then triumphing over Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the quarterfinals to secure his second world championship medal. Notably, Lai has significantly improved his world ranking, ascending from 50th to seventh place over the past year.