Victor Lai has made history by becoming Canada’s first-ever medallist at the badminton world championships.
Lai came up short against world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China in Saturday’s semifinals, but bronze medals are awarded to both semifinal losers.
The 20-year-old from Markham, Ont., stormed out to win the opening game in Paris, 21-13.
Lai held three match points in the second game when he hit a long shot that missed the backline by a few centimetres. Shi, who went on to win gold, successfully challenged before winning back-to-back games (22-20, 21-16).
Lai beat 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the quarterfinals Friday, storming back from being down 17-12 in the opening game to win 22-20, 21-18 — his second upset victory of the week. He defeated 11th-seeded Lu Guangzu of China in the second round on Wednesday.
Victor Lai take a bow! 👏<a href=”https://twitter.com/TotalEnergies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@TotalEnergies</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/TotalEnergiesBadminton?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#TotalEnergiesBadminton</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BWFWorldChampionships?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BWFWorldChampionships</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paris2025?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Paris2025</a> <a href=”https://t.co/T3KLf9Y3nY”>pic.twitter.com/T3KLf9Y3nY</a>
—@bwfmedia
Lai is just a few weeks removed from his gold-medal win at the Junior Pan American Games.
“I think I got a lot of confidence from the summer, from past tournaments, and it feels good to be the underdog. I don’t have much pressure against the seeded players, so I just go and do my best,” Lai said in a press release.
“This has been an amazing week for Victor and Canadian Badminton. He showed that he can compete with the best in the world on the biggest stage,” said Team Canada head coach Mike Butler. “He secured our first world championship medal and was a point away from playing for gold.”
