Canada’s Victor Lai secured the men’s singles bronze medal once again at the badminton world championships held on Saturday. The 21-year-old athlete, hailing from Markham, Ontario, and seeded seventh, was defeated in the semifinals by the European champion Alex Lanier from France with a score of 16-21, 21-13, 21-14 at the Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi.

In the badminton world championships, both semifinalists who do not advance to the final are awarded bronze medals. Last year, Lai made history by winning Canada’s inaugural medal at the badminton world championships after defeating 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the quarterfinals in Paris.

This year, Lai managed to surpass Loh in the round of 16 and then triumphed over Rasmus Gemke from Denmark in the quarterfinals, securing his second world championship medal. Noteworthy is Lai’s remarkable ascent in the world rankings, climbing from 50th to seventh place over the past year.