Victor Lai of Canada secured a bronze medal for the second consecutive year at the badminton world championships. The 21-year-old, hailing from Markham, Ontario, and ranked seventh, was defeated in the semifinals by Alex Lanier of France with a score of 16-21, 21-13, 21-14 at Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi. Both semifinalists not advancing to the final are awarded bronze medals at the competition.
Lai made history last year by clinching Canada’s inaugural medal at the badminton world championships when he eliminated the 2021 world champion, Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, in the quarterfinals in Paris. This year, he defeated Loh in the round of 16 and then overcame Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the quarterfinals to secure his second world championship medal. Notably, Lai has risen in the world rankings from 50th to seventh in just one year.
