Victor Lai of Scarborough, Ontario made Canadian sports history on Friday by becoming the first Canadian ever to win a medal at the World Badminton Championships. Lai accomplished the feat in men’s singles action in Paris, France at only the age of 20.
Lai was one of two bronze medallists. The other was Anders Antonsen of Denmark. Yuqi Shi of China won the gold medal and Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand won the silver medal.
Entering the 2025 World Badminton Championships, Lai was ranked 50th in the world according to Sven Busch of olympics.com. He is now ranked 35th.
Lai began the tournament with a dominant 21-13, 21-2 first round win over Edward Lau of New Zealand. That was followed by a second round win by a score of 13-21, 21-12, 21-10 over the 11th seed Guangzu Lu of China, the silver medalist from the 2025 Asian Badminton Championships in Ningbo, a third round win over Hyeok-jin Jean of South Korea by a score of 21-17, 21-13, and a quarterfinal win over the ninth seed Kean Yew Loh of Singapore by a score of 22-20, 210-18. The quarterfinal win guaranteed Lai a world championship medal. In the semifinals, Lai was beaten 13-21, 22-20, 21-16 by Shi.
It has been quite the year for Lai. In April in Lima, Peru, he won the gold medal at the 2025 Pan American Badminton Championships. In the final, Lai beat fellow Canadian Joshua Nguyen of Markham, Ontario 21-9. 21-8. Brian Yang of Toronto, Ontario remains the top Canadian male in the world at number 32. The bronze medal for Lai will give him confidence as he prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
