the French badminton gifted skip the steps. Triple European champion in U15 then U17, the young Calavadosien won his first senior tournaments last year, was selected for the World Team Championships and is now at the 140th place in the world. A misleading classification his rise is meteoric. “I want to try to progress as quickly as possible and get closer to the Top 50 in a year or two to hope to play the olympic qualification. It’s doable”, asks the young man, ambition pegged to the body. Without any pretension.
head and legs
Part of the incredible density of the “bad” tricolor, Alex Lanier knows that the road to the top level will however be complicated. “There is a real homogeneity and everyone is pulling themselves up; even if for the moment, I am a little below the competition, especially in the physical dimension and in regularity.”
Two areas of progress that the young man works daily at INSEP (National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance), the nursery of champions he joined two and a half years ago already.” The level of training there is very hard, the expertise and the required level are very high.These are marathon days with studies in parallel (he is in 1st S)“, confides Alex who has a well-made head, and legs in tune.
For his first in Orleans this week, Alex Lanier will have to extricate himself of a complicated qualification table before thinking bigger. “It all depends on me, because there is no unplayable opponent. I can aim for the quarters or the semi-finals of such a tournament”, prophesies the Norman, who does not put any particular pressure on himself.
“There is no unplayable opponent”
“He will want to show that he has the level and that his level of play is well beyond his current ranking”, adds Jérôme Careil, the national technical director (DTN) of the federation. “He has today a very interesting performance-age ratio and he really gives himself the means to achieve his goals”, adds the DTN, very satisfied with his progress. The Honk-Kongese Chan Yin Chak (177th) will be the first on his way to the Sports Palace.
The Orleans Masters program
MARDI. Qualifications for all categories and men’s singles round of 32. From 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
WEDNESDAY. 16th final. From 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
THURSDAY. 8th finals. From 1:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
FRIDAY. 1/4 final. From 3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
SATURDAY. 1/2 finals. From 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
SUNDAY. Finals. From 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
At the Sports Palace of Orleans. 14 rue, Eugene-Vignet. Tram, Eugène-Vignat stop, line B.
The rates
FROM TUESDAY TO THURSDAY. Full price: €10 per day.
FRIDAY. Full price: from 12 to 20 € per day.
SATURDAY. Full price: from 15 to 25 € per day.
SUNDAY. Full price: from 18 to 30 € per day.
DISCOUNTS. Discounts for groups, FFBad licensees. Free for children under 8 years old. Six-day or Friday-Saturday-Sunday packs.
The ticket office is available here.
