Alex Lanier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Lanier in 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 26 January 2005 Caen, France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 2020–present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Badminton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Handedness | Right | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Kęstutis Navickas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Men's singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 207 wins, 69 losses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | 7 (5 August 2025) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | 10 (21 April 2026) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BWF profile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alex Lanier (born 26 January 2005) is a French badminton player.[1] He won the gold medal in the 2025 European Championships.[2] He became the first ever French player to win a BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament.[3] In the juniors, Lanier was a boys' singles gold medalist at the 2022 European Junior Championships, and a bronze medalist at the 2023 World Junior Championships.
Alex Lanier started playing badminton at the age of 3 and later joined the Dives-sur-Mer badminton club. In 2019, he left the Dives-sur-Mer, to join the club of Strasbourg, to compete in the French interclub division. In 2020, he joined INSEP at the age of only 15.[4]
In June 2021, Lanier competed in the Lithuanian International tournament and won his first international title in the final by defeating Canada's player B. R. Sankeerth.[5] Afterwards, he managed to advance to the final at the Latvia International, but lost to India's Meiraba Luwang Maisnam.[6] He bounced back at the Italian International and won his second international title by defeating Czech player Jan Louda.[7]
Lanier opened the 2022 season by winning the Estonian International.[8] He then clinched the boys' singles title at the European Junior Championships.[9] In October, he secured his first win on a World Tour event at the age of only 17, as he defeated Japanese Takuma Obayashi at the Canada Open.[10]
Lanier started the 2023 season as a finalist in the Estonian International.[11] He participated at the European Mixed Team Championships,[12] where the team finished runner-up.[13] He then went to win his first title of the year at the Polish Open.[14] In October, he won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships.[15] At the end of the season, hi reached the finals in the Irish Open,[16] and semi-finals in the BWF World Tour, the Hylo Open and Syed Modi International.[17][18]
Lanier won his first title in 2024 at the Luxembourg Open.[19] In the next tournament, he finished as finalist in the Denmark Challenge and won the Nantes International.[20][21] He played at the Canada Open, losing the final to Koki Watanabe.[22] Lanier then won the Japan Open title at a young age 19 years old. He defeated seeded player en-route to the final.[23] The 19-year-old did it in sensational fashion, taking down world number 1 Shi Yuqi in rubber games in the semi-finals. By winning the Japan Open, he became the first ever French player to win a BWF World Tour Super 750 event.[3]
Despite an early losses at the Malaysia and India Opens in January,[24][25] Lanier went on to win his maiden title in 2025 at the Orleans Masters.[26] He then entered to top 10 men's singles at the BWF World ranking on 11 March 2025.[27] In his debut at the All England Open, he managed to reach the semi-finals losing to Lee Chia-hao.[28] He managed to win the 2025 European Championships title, becoming the first ever French men's singles player to win the title.[2] He also finished runner-up in the Japan Open.[29]
In 2026, Lanier and the Frech team captured the gold medal by breaking Denmark's long-standing dominance in the European Men's Team Championships.[30] He then won the home soil title in the Orléans Masters defeating Toma Junior Popov in the final.[31]
