At the speed of the shuttlecock, <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/02/badminton-euro-cadets-double-golden-lanyard/” title=”Badminton. Euro cadets: Double golden lanyard”>Alex Lanier has established himself in a few months as one of the rising figures of badminton in France, from an exploit this summer in Japan towards the objective of the World Championships in Paris in 2025.
At the end of August, in Yokohoma, the 19-year-old badista became the first Frenchman to win a Super 750, a second-level tournament on the international circuit, by dominating Taiwanese world No.10 Chou Tien-chen in two rounds.
Far from Japan, where he will nevertheless compete in a Super 500 next week, barely out of his training at Insep, Alex Lanier remembers:
“I said to myself ‘we’ve had a good period of training, I feel really good on the pitch’, now it’s time to see what I’m worth compared to the best in the world”, the Frenchman tells AFP who left his mark by dismissing the Chinese Shi Yu Qi, then world No.1, or the Malaysian Lee Zii Jia, bronze medalist at the Paris Games.
A major performance, two years after his first title on the World Tour, a Super 100 in Canada at just 17 years old.
Rather “bad” than boat
Alex Lanier only had three when he held his first racket, five when he started competing. Born in Caen, he grew up in Calvados around parents who were “very good” at sailing, and who played badminton at a regional level.
“I had a lot of energy, staying on a boat perhaps didn’t suit me at that age,” remembers the right-hander who on the field “could move everywhere”.
Graduated from ASPTT Strasbourg, he joined Insep at the age of 15, there “where it became very serious” even if “when I joined I didn’t say to myself ‘now I’m going to make it my job’ c “came gradually”, calmly assures the student at the Sorbonne, who is taking distance learning courses.
This apparent calm characterizes him in competitions, “I don’t let myself get carried away by emotions or stress most of the time” when his “vision of the game” and his capacity for anticipation, combined with the fact of being “very athletic” allows him, according to him, to hurt his opponent.
His coach, Kestutis Navickas, a former Lithuanian player who participated in the Olympic Games in 2008, praises “his strong mentality” and his ability to learn “very quickly” in training.
No miracle
According to him, there is no “miracle” in seeing him succeed so much this season, “convinced that in relation to the work done, we were ready to take on these challenges”, like this final reached at the Canadian Open ( Super 500) in July, the coronation in Japan or a semi-final in October in another Super 750, in Denmark.
His performance also allowed him to reach 15th place in the world, again the ranking never reached by a Frenchman in singles. He was 43rd on January 1.
“We have always had the same method which is to think about my development rather than performance directly” whether in the game, mentally or “in energy management” adds Alex Lanier, also accompanied by a mental coach.
Not selected for the Games, in favor of two other French hopes Toma Junior and Christo Popov, brothers aged 26 and 22, Alex Lanier felt a little “frustration” even if he was already aware “that it was going to be very hard” to qualify, notably with an injury which takes him away from the competition from June to November 2023.
Instead, he focuses on what comes next, with extensive preparation, “one of the best”, perhaps one of the secrets of his success in Yokohoma.
With the year almost over, Alex Lanier knows that next summer will not be marked by the Olympics, but the Badminton Worlds in Paris (August 25 to 31). And if he keeps his feet on the ground, the young badista will go there with a dream: “to win them”.
