Alex Lanier

Alex Lanier (born 26 January 2005) is a French badminton player. He won the gold medal in the 2025 European Championships. He became the first ever French player to win a BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament, and is the reigning men's singles world champion after winning the title at the 2026 BWF World Championships. In the juniors, Lanier was a boys' singles gold medalist at the 2022 European Junior Championships, and a bronze medalist at the 2023 World Junior Championships.

Career Alex Lanier started playing badminton at the age of 3 and later joined the Dives-sur-Mer badminton club. In 2019, he left the Dives-sur-Mer, to join the club of Strasbourg, to compete in the French interclub division. In 2020, he joined INSEP at the age of only 15.

In June 2021, Lanier competed in the Lithuanian International tournament and won his first international title in the final by defeating Canada's player B. R. Sankeerth. Afterwards, he managed to advance to the final at the Latvia International, but lost to India's Meiraba Luwang Maisnam. He bounced back at the Italian International and won his second international title by defeating Czech player Jan Louda.

Lanier opened the 2022 season by winning the Estonian International. He then clinched the boys' singles title at the European Junior Championships. In October, he secured his first win on a World Tour event at the age of only 17, as he defeated Japanese Takuma Obayashi at the Canada Open.

Lanier started the 2023 season as a finalist in the Estonian International. He participated at the European Mixed Team Championships, where the team finished runner-up. He then went to win his first title of the year at the Polish Open. In October, he won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. At the end of the season, hi reached the finals in the Irish Open, and semi-finals in the BWF World Tour, the Hylo Open and Syed Modi International.

Lanier won his first title in 2024 at the Luxembourg Open. In the next tournament, he finished as finalist in the Denmark Challenge and won the Nantes International. He played at the Canada Open, losing the final to Koki Watanabe. Lanier then won the Japan Open title at a young age 19 years old. He defeated seeded player en-route to the final. The 19-year-old did it in sensational fashion, taking down world number 1 Shi Yuqi in rubber games in the semi-finals. By winning the Japan Open, he became the first ever French player to win a BWF World Tour Super 750 event. Lanier went on to win his maiden title in 2025 at the Orleans Masters. He then entered to top 10 men's singles at the BWF World ranking on 11 March 2025. In his debut at the All England Open, he managed to reach the semi-finals losing to Lee Chia-hao. He managed to win the 2025 European Championships title, becoming the first ever French men's singles player to win the title.

In 2026, Lanier and the French team captured the gold medal by breaking Denmark's long-standing dominance in the European Men's Team Championships. He then won the home soil title in the Orléans Masters defeating Toma Junior Popov in the final. He also made history with the French team, which reached the final of the Thomas Cup for the first time, and won the silver medal after being defeated by China. A month later, he won the Singapore Open against the home favourite, Loh Kean Yew in the final.

He became a world champion in the 2026 BWF World Championships, held in New Delhi, India, after beating Kodai Naraoka by 21–11 and 21–11. It was the first world title in men's single category for France.

Achievements

BWF World Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result Ref

is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Men's singles Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result Ref 2022 Canada Open Super 100 Takuma Obayashi 21–12, 12–21, 21–13 Winner 2024 Canada Open Super 500 Koki Watanabe 22–20, 17–21, 6–21 Runner-up 2024 Japan Open Super 750 Chou Tien-chen 21–17, 22–20 Winner 2025 Orléans Masters Super 300 Lin Chun-yi 21–13, 21–18 Winner 2025 Japan Open Super 750 Shi Yuqi 17–21, 15–21 Runner-up 2026 Orléans Masters Super 300 Toma Junior Popov 21–11, 21–13 Winner 2026 Singapore Open Super 750 Loh Kean Yew 17–21, 21–15, 21–14 Winner

BWF International Challenge / Series (6 titles, 4 runners-up) Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result Ref 2021 Lithuanian International B. R. Sankeerth 18–21, 23–21, 21–15 Winner 2021 Latvia International Meiraba Maisnam 15–21, 21–12, 20–22 Runner-up 2021 Italian International Jan Louda 21–12, 18–21, 21–11 Winner 2022 Estonian International Kok Jing Hong 22–20, 21–15 Winner 2023 Estonian International Yushi Tanaka 13–21, 21–15, 12–21 Runner-up 2023 Polish Open Kalle Koljonen 21–14, 21–15 Winner 2023 Irish Open Nhat Nguyen 13–21, 19–21 Runner-up 2024 Luxembourg Open Jason Teh 21–17, 21–15 Winner 2024 Denmark Challenge Yushi Tanaka 21–15, 12–21, 11–21 Runner-up 2024 Nantes International Pablo Abián 21–14, 21–13 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament