Lanier And An Se-young Crowned World Champions In Paris

France and South Korea shine as Lanier and An Se-young win World titles. Alex Lanier becomes first Frenchman to win Badminton World Singles Title.

Naraoka’s drops had no effect. Lanier anticipated the 25-year-old at every turn and finished the contest with decisive smashes...

Alex Lanier made history as the first Frenchman to win a singles world title, beating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka 21-11, 21-11 at the Badminton World Championships on Sunday. In the women’s final, Olympic champion An Se-young defeated defending world champion Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-14 to claim her second world title.

Lanier needed around 50 minutes to wrap up the men’s final, overpowering former finalist Naraoka from start to finish.  

The 21-year-old Frenchman dictated the rallies and moved Naraoka around the court, then finished points with sharp angled smashes.

Lanier took the opener in 23 minutes. A tired Naraoka struggled with low lifts in the second and tried forcing winners from deep, but hit wide repeatedly.

Naraoka couldn’t trouble Lanier with drop shots. The Frenchman read the 25-year-old’s play and answered with smashes to close out the match.

Earlier on Sunday, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue made history as the first French pair to win a badminton world title. They beat top seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping of China 22-20, 19-21, 21-15 in the mixed doubles final.

Lanier’s victory capped a year of success for French badminton, following Christo Popov’s World Tour Finals win last year and the French team’s continental championship triumph over Denmark in February.  

An Outlasts Yamaguchi To Claim Second World Title

An Se-young put reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi under pressure with smashes down the sidelines, and the first game stayed tight with the pair level at 17-17.  

The 24-year-old South Korean then raised her level, winning four straight points to take the opener. She followed it with more gruelling, high-tempo rallies in the second to close out the match and secure her second world championship, after her 2023 win.  

With the victory, An now simultaneously holds the Olympic, world championships, Asian Games and Asian championships women’s singles titles.

South Korea also struck gold in women’s doubles. Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee beat China’s Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning 21-15, 21-15 to become the country’s first world champions in the event in 31 years.

The championships ended with China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang taking the men’s doubles crown, defeating Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-17, 21-16.