Alex Lanier defeats Naraoka Kodai in New Delhi to win men’s singles title; first French man to win world singles title

BWF World Championships 2026: Alex Lanier beats Naraoka Kodai to win first world title; An Seyoung earns second women’s crown

BWF World Championships 2026: Alex Lanier beats Naraoka Kodai to win first world title; An Seyoung earns second women’s crown

Lanier became the first French man to be crowned world singles champion, while An denied defending champion Yamaguchi Akane in the women’s final.

Alex Lanier won the men’s badminton singles title at the 2026 BWF World Championships on Sunday (23 August), defeating Naraoka Kodai 21-11, 21-11 in New Delhi, India. He’s the first French player to win the men’s singles world title.

In a final lasting just under 50 minutes, the Caen native displayed the imperious form that has seen him drop just two games throughout the entire tournament. Lanier claimed 42 of the 64 points played, at one point winning eight consecutively.

Lanier, the ninth seed and 2025 European champion, reached the final by beating Canada’s Victor Lai 16-21, 21-13, 21-14 in the semi-finals, a result that left Lai with a second straight badminton world bronze.

Japan’s Naraoka, seeded 10th, had come through the other semi-final against sixth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.

An Se Young (KOR) v He Bing Jiao (CHN) - Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match | Badminton | Olympic Games Paris 2024

The Women’s Singles Gold Medal match between An Se Young (KOR) v He Bing Jiao (CHN) which took place at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena on 05

  1. An Se Young (KOR) won the match with a final score of 2:0.

The medal ceremony saw An Se Young (KOR) take Gold, He Bing Jiao (CHN) take Silver and Gregoria Tunjung (INA) take the Bronze medal.

There was a similar outcome in the women’s final, where reigning Olympic champion An Seyoung beat Yamaguchi Akane 21-17, 21-14 to take the title without dropping a game all week.

Yamaguchi, a three-time world champion defending the title she won in Paris last year, started the second game brightly and led 3-0. An, who took bronze in 2025, pulled level at 5-5 and edged ahead, and a run of four straight points made it 16-11. She closed the match out from there for a second world title, and a first since 2023, and it caps a season of seven titles from nine tournaments before New Delhi.

Badminton | World Championships | New Delhi | India