Alex Lanier Is the First Frenchman to Win the Badminton World Championship and Malaysia Went Home With Silver
The 2026 BWF World Championships finished in New Delhi on 23 August. Lanier beat Kodai Naraoka 21-11, 21-11 and An Se Young took a second women's title.
The 2026 BWF World Championships were held in New Delhi from 17 to 23 August, at the Indira Gandhi Arena, and produced a men's singles champion nobody had seeded to win it.
Alex Lanier of France, the ninth seed, beat Japan's tenth seed Kodai Naraoka 21-11, 21-11 in the final. The scoreline is the striking part: a world final decided in straight games with identical margins, against an opponent known for grinding rallies past the hour mark. Lanier is reported to be the first French player to win the men's singles world title.
An Se Young of South Korea, the top seed, took the women's singles 21-17, 21-14 against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi for a second world championship.
The doubles finals had the results that matter most to a Southeast Asian audience. In men's doubles, China's Liang Wei Kang and Wang Chang, seeded third, beat Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-16, 21-17. Chia and Soh finish as world silver medallists, which extends a run that has now put them on the podium at multiple global events without converting one into gold.
Korea's Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee won the women's doubles 21-15, 21-15 against the top-seeded Chinese pair Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning. In mixed doubles, France took a second title of the week: Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue beat China's Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping 22-20, 19-21, 21-15 in the only final of the five to go the distance.
Two French world titles in one championship is the headline for a country that has historically been a marginal presence in the sport, and China finished with one gold from four finals contested.
No Thai, Indonesian or Singaporean player reached a final, which is unusual for a region that normally supplies at least one. Malaysia's silver is Southeast Asia's return from the week.
One note on sourcing: the venue name is carried by the tournament's reference listing rather than by the match reports, so it is worth a check against the BWF's own release before being quoted.