KUALA LUMPUR: Since the All-England badminton competition began in 1900, no French men’s singles player has ever reached the final, and the wait continues after their best hope, Alex Lanier, lost in the semi-finals.
Lanier, one of the sport’s rising stars, was stunned by unseeded Taiwanese Lee Chia-hao, who secured a 19-21, 21-14, 21-17 victory on Saturday.
The defeats shattered the Frenchman’s hopes of making back-to-back finals, following his French Open triumph two weeks ago.
The 20-year-old became Europe’s biggest hope after two-time world champion Viktor Axelsen was eliminated in the second round, ironically by another Taiwanese player, Lee Chun-yi.
Lanier admitted that fatigue played a key role in his defeat to the Taiwanese player, leading to unforced errors that gave his opponent opportunities to score.
“I was a bit disappointed. Fatigue set in, and it was really hard for me today. I had a lot of bad moments. Honestly, I was trying everything I could, but he was just better. His shot quality was really nice, and I think he simply played better,” said Lanier.
“I just tried to fight, honestly. I had a lot of help from the coach behind me, and they really pushed me to keep going despite the conditions. I gave it my best, but it wasn’t enough. He was the better player today.
“He’s an attacking player who brings a lot of speed. Today, I just couldn’t find a way to manage that pace and my legs weren’t there.
“He used deception really well, which made it even harder for me to keep up. It felt like he was breaking my movement, and that made things worse.’’
Lanier also praised Chia-hao’s ability to adapt to the windy conditions at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, allowing him to produce high-quality shots.
Notably, Chia-hao became only the second Taiwanese player to reach the All-England final, following Chou Tien-chen’s achievement in 2020.
“Technically, he’s very strong, which caught me by surprise. His shot quality today was excellent. The conditions were windy, but he didn’t make any mistakes at the backline, which was impressive.
“He’s definitely a great player. If he’s in the final, it means he deserves to be there. He’s extremely good and consistent,” he added.
Although Lanier’s campaign has ended, he can take pride in being the only European player to reach the semi-finals.
It was not an easy journey, but he battled through, defeating Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke, 2023 world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Wang Tzu-wei along the way.
