Text by BWF
When the BWF World Championships begin in New Delhi in August, there will be plenty of attention on one young man who has had an astounding run over the past year.
It was just a year ago, at the Canada Open 2025, that the early indications emerged, of the soft-spoken Victor Lai being a genuine threat to the top stars. Not long after came his history-making performance at the BWF World Championships in Paris, where he claimed Canada’s first medal.
It is getting close to a year since that breakthrough performance; with his trajectory going upward, it is more than likely that the Canadian could have another impactful World Championships. What portends well for him is his semifinal finish at the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open – the test event for the World Championships.
Then followed a semifinal at only his second HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000 event — the YONEX All England – with wins over Alex Lanier, Lee Cheuk Yiu and Koki Watanabe.
That would be a precursor to an even bigger accomplishment at the POLYTRON Indonesia Open. Playing at the Istora for the very first time, Lai quickly came to terms with its unique challenges. His first victim was All England champion Lin Chun-Yi, in straight games. Then followed Koki Watanabe and Toma Junior Popov, also in straight games.
“I thought the Istora was huge (stadium), but I’ve never experienced what I’m playing,” Lai said, on the challenges of playing in the iconic venue. “It is very hard to focus. Every second it’s so loud. First, you can’t hear your coach too well. Even your own thoughts, you hear a roar and you get distracted.”
Yet, even as the other big names struggled in drifty conditions with a fast shuttle, Lai adjusted better than most.
“It’s a lot about trusting your touch,” Lai said. “Because with the wind, and if you’re nervous, your hand is tight, it’s hard to control, but you just have to believe you have the capability to hit it to the back court, for example. It’s about mentality and technical (skill). It’s really hard. I’m lucky I have a coach this time.
“It’s my first time playing the Asia tour. It’s a really good learning atmosphere – the first was Thailand (Open) and I learned a lot from those conditions.”
Lai would then ace the big tests in the semifinals against Chou Tien Chen and the final against Jonatan Christie.
The Canadian was the underdog going into the final against a player who has great familiarity with the Istora. Besides, with the packed stadium cheering for the home favourite, it would have not been unusual for the challenger to lose his nerve.
Yet, the opposite happened. Having fallen narrowly in the first game, the pressure got to the experienced Christie as he crumbled towards the end, losing the last seven points in a row to hand Lai the biggest title of his career.
“I never imagined I’d win a Super 1000 title, and for this to be my first is truly… I’m dreaming still,” said an incredulous Lai. “The past couple of nights I’ve been thinking of a lot of scenarios in my head, and I’m glad that one of them came true.”
The striking feature of his week, and particularly in the final, was how assured he was. In his first Super 1000 final, Lai played with the assurance of someone far more experienced.
“Definitely I had a lot of doubts,” he admitted. “In the second game he started to make a couple of mistakes, and I didn’t want it to get to me, that I’m going to win already, so I had to keep my head down, keep focus, don’t show too much emotion, because once you let it all out, sometimes you lose focus. So I just told myself to keep my head down, keep working, it’s not over until I get 21 points.
“The adrenaline was still high the last couple of nights, no sleep. But (eve of the final) I had the best sleep of the past couple of nights because I was just so tired. A lot of scenarios were running through my head, both good and bad, and I’m happy that the good one played out today.”
What did this mean for Canada?
“It means that you’ve got to believe. We might not have the support or firepower of other countries, but if you believe, you can do it.
“It feels like I’m still dreaming. We as a country or region we’re getting stronger every year. We have our clubs and our coaches back home and it shows we’re training in the right direction, and it shows that with more support, Canadian badminton can grow. We’ve shown before, with Michelle (Li) and Brian (Yang), that we’re capable of competing with the top guys, and I think today I hope I inspired some young kids from Canada to believe.”
