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.
“I don’t get carried away by emotions”
“I felt really good on the pitch, it was time to see what I was worth compared to the best in the world,” remembers the Frenchman. He made 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.
Alex Lanier only had 3 when he held his first racket, 5 when he started competing. Born in Caen, he grew up in Calvados around parents “very good” in sailing, and who practice 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 all over the place”.
Graduated from ASPTT Strasbourg, he joined Insep at 15, there “where it became very serious”. Even if the student at the Sorbonne immediately specifies: “ When I joined, I didn’t tell myself that I was going to make it my career, it came gradually. »
Calmness and speed of learning
His apparent calm characterizes him in competitions. “I don’t get carried away by emotions or stress most of the time. » on “vision of the game” and its 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” to see him succeed so much this season: “I am convinced that in relation to the work carried out, 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 performances also allowed him to reach the 15the world rank, again the ranking never reached by a Frenchman in singles. He was 43e au 1is January. “We have always had the same method, which is to think about my development rather than performance directly,” completes Alex Lanier. And this whether in the game, mentally or “in energy management”.
Not selected for Paris 2024
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 aware “that it was going to be very hard” to qualify, notably with an injury which kept him away from the field from June to November 2023.
With the year almost over, Alex Lanier knows that next summer will not be marked by the Olympics, but the Badminton Worlds in Paris, from August 25 to 31. And if he keeps his feet on the ground, the young badista intends to go there with a dream, “win them” !
