All posts tagged: Alex Lanier

France’s Journey from its first medal in Hyderabad 2009 to first gold in New Delhi

France’s Journey from its first medal in Hyderabad 2009 to first gold in New Delhi

Published by Webster

New Delhi: India successfully hosted the BWF World Championships 2026 after a 17-year gap, with five new world titles decided in the national capital on Sunday. This edition proved especially memorable for European badminton, as France, a nation that had never previously won a World Championships gold, claimed two titles. India has long held a special place in French badminton history. The country’s first-ever World Championships medal also came on Indian soil in 2009, when Pi Hongyan claimed bronze in the women’s singles. Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue triumphed in mixed doubles, while Alex Lanier captured the men’s singles crown. The double success marks a historic milestone for European badminton. It is the first time since 1983 that Europe has secured two gold medals at the event, and the first time since 1977 that more than one title has gone to the same European country. “Ten years ago, no French player could think about it; it’s a really proud moment,” said the mixed doubles champion Thom, who bagged his first ever gold for France. Thom …

‘India tried to confuse us… It means we are scaring big teams’ – Frenchman Lanier after Thomas Cup win over India | Badminton News

‘India tried to confuse us… It means we are scaring big teams’ – Frenchman Lanier after Thomas Cup win over India | Badminton News

Published by Webster

3 min readMay 3, 2026 06:00 AM IST It was a straightforward loss of three singles from India to France’s top 3, all ranked in Top 20. But Frenchman Alex Lanier believed it was deep strategy that India was using to confuse France. Thomas Cups can get wild, like that. France ended up evicting Indonesia, Japan and India in succession to become first non-Denmark European team to make Thomas Cup finals since England in 1984. Lanier, World No 10, had prepared and strategised for Ayush Shetty. But India decided to rest Lakshya Sen in first singles. Which meant a very docile Kidambi Srikanth fetched up to play second singles, and was beaten 21-16, 21-18 not before giving the Frenchman a few rallies to ponder over, as his deception cut into the pace and tempo of Lanier. Lanier though reckoned the move was aimed at boggling the French. Sen had rammed his elbow into the floor and suffered an impact shock, besides complaining of blisters. Lanier though thought it was a plan to field Srikanth to …

Unnati Hooda stuns fourth seed Ti Lin to enter Hylo Open Semifinals; Lakshya, Ayush exit

Unnati Hooda stuns fourth seed Ti Lin to enter Hylo Open Semifinals; Lakshya, Ayush exit

Published by Webster

India’s Unnati Hooda continued her impressive run at the Hylo Open Super 500 badminton tournament, advancing to the women’s singles semifinals after a commanding win over fourth seed Hsiang Ti Lin of Chinese Taipei on Friday. World No.34 Unnati displayed composure beyond her years to defeat Ti Lin, ranked 24th, 22-20, 21-13 in a 47-minute quarterfinal encounter. The victory also helped the 17-year-old avenge her loss to the same opponent at the Malaysia Masters earlier this year. With the win, Unnati has assured herself of a place in the final four and will next face either top seed Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia or Azerbaijan’s Keisha Fatimah Azzahra, who are meeting in the other quarterfinal. Mixed results for Indian Shuttlers While Unnati’s win brought cheer, it was a disappointing day for India’s men’s singles contingent. Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, and Kiran George all bowed out after hard-fought quarterfinal losses. Lakshya went down to France’s Alex Lanier 17-21, 21-14, 15-21 in a close three-game battle, while Ayush lost narrowly to Finland’s Kalle Koljonen 19-21, 21-12, 22-20. …

All England Open: Shi Yu Qi’s charge to the final, the only predictable outcome in men’s singles draw | Badminton News

All England Open: Shi Yu Qi’s charge to the final, the only predictable outcome in men’s singles draw | Badminton News

Published by Webster

The World No 1 will compete in the men’s singles final of the All England Open in 2025. That, perhaps, has been the only predictable outcome in a wild week of badminton at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham. By the last eight stages, in fact, Shi Yu Qi and Li Shi Feng were the only seeded players left in the men’s singles draw. The top seed made it to the title clash, but was pushed all the way by his compatriot Li in the semifinal on Saturday. After having won the first game comfortably, it seemed Shi would cruise through but what followed in Games 2 and 3 was a high-quality match between two men who know each other all too well. In the end, Shi prevailed 21-9, 20-22, 21-19 in a 76-minute marathon. The other half of the draw was already full of surprises, with France’s rising 20-year-old beast Alex Lanier going up against world No 22 Lee Chia Hao in a clash of unseeded players. And it was the Chinese Taipei right-hander who …

Lakshya Sen beats France’s Alex Lanier to finish third

Lakshya Sen beats France’s Alex Lanier to finish third

Published by Webster

India’s Lakshya Sen, on Sunday, earned a third place finish at the King Cup Open with a 21-17, 21-11 straight games win over France’s Alex Lanier in Shenzhen, China. Sen, who had on Saturday suffered a shock loss to the world junior champion Hu Zhe’an, did well to recover from that tight match and take the battle to Lanier. The Indian, ranked 12th in the BWF world rankings, started off well against Lanier, opening up a 7-3 lead in the first game. The Frenchman, however, found his way back as Sen floated his shuttles wide and often long to equalise at 9-9. In fact it was Lanier, who enjoyed a slender 11-10 lead at the first mid-game interval. That remained the only phase, where Sen looked out of sorts in what was a near-perfect match for the Indian. With some advice from his father and coach DK Sen, who was present at the side lines, Sen rectified his errors soon after the mid-game interval. Though Lanier kept him in check with some beautifully placed shots, …

Badminton’s new face France’s Alex Lanier reframes the sport with muscle power | Badminton News

Published by Webster

The last two Olympics men’s singles titles have gone to a European, not an Asian. And the first Tour title immediately after Paris Games, the Japan Open, a Super 750 final (that’s just one rung below the Big4 like All England and China Open), was won by French teenager Alex Lanier. If Danish Viktor Axelsen’s tall, strapping mic-drop game has seen him collect titles at will, peaking for the big events and absolutely crushing opponents in one-sided finals, the 19-year-old Lanier brings a different physicality to the sport. Lanier, who is 1.8 metres long, got dubbed the ‘Beast’, as he brought a very high level of muscularity to the court, combined with quickness of movement and flexibility, that will prove to be a headache in coming years for Asians who have stuck to the lean, quick-footed, fast-reflexed bodytype when playing the sport. Raw power – the likes that is employed by Axelsen and now Alex Lanier – however, can stub out all nuance of skill, deception and reflex. Once pace and clever placement get countered …