New Delhi: France has been the talk of the badminton world since last year, when three of its players—Alex Lanier, Christo Popov, and Toma Popov Junior — announced their arrival on the big stage and advanced to the third round of the BWF World Championships in Paris. Denmark has been traditional powerhouse of the sport in Europe, but a gust of fresh wind was blowing. At the BWF Worlds here, that gust of wind has turned into a raging storm sweeping through the sport.New Delhi, India - Aug. 22, 2026: France’s Alex Lanier competes against Canada’s Victor Lai during their men’s singles semifinal match at the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, August 22, 2026. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)That was evident at the Thomas Cup, the prestigious world team championships, where France stunned teams such as Indonesia, Japan and India to reach the final. They eventually lost to China, but for a team that had never previously reached the quarter-finals, it was as big an achievement as it gets. It came on the back of France’s victory at the European Men’s Team Championships, where they beat Denmark.On Saturday, Alex Lanier scripted another first for France, reaching the World Championships final with a brilliant come-from-behind win over promising Canadian Victor Lai in the semi-finals. His medal will be the first by a French shuttler at the World Championships.All through the week, the 21-year-old world No.10 Lanier has played like he is on a mission, taking out former world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the quarter-finals. In both matches, Lanier was a game down but showed tremendous temperament and fighting spirit to turn the tables. His physical capabilities were particularly striking, especially after two draining, high-pressure matches on the biggest stage.Few emotions were on display as Lanier remained focused on the final, where he will meet Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, who stopped the gallant run of 36-year-old Chou Tien-chen 17-21, 21-11, 21-10.“I don’t feel that emotional at the moment. I think I’m a little bit too tired, but I’m also proud of the way I managed that match (semi-final). Also, mentally, I’m not really thinking how big it is,” Lanier said.“We haven’t done the tournament yet, so definitely I don’t want to think about the historical aspect. I just enjoy being on court and playing my best, so that’s my main priority at the moment.”Lanier’s physical preparation in the build-up helped him pull off such long matches. Against Kunlavut, who has reached the last three finals, he was on court for an hour and 18 minutes. Against Victor, it was an hour and 25 minutes of a gruelling contest. Towards the home stretch, Lanier’s superior physical conditioning saw him through, even as the draining match began to take a toll on Victor.“We prepared well, especially physically, before the Japan Open. We prepared to be ready, and we knew that it’s going to be very physical, a World Championship.“And it has been definitely physically demanding. And then we just went, we just polished a little bit of my game. We went to Denmark to get the intensity, to get some very good practice,” said Lanier.Three French players are now in the top 15 of the men’s singles world rankings. The rise has led every nation to sit back and take notice of France’s growing presence on the international badminton stage.Sitting behind Lanier during the match was Kęstutis Navickas, the Lithuanian Olympian and singles head coach of the French national badminton team.“It’s a long-term work by the French Federation that is giving results now,” said Kęstutis. “The French Federation has been working for many years to create the system and the structure. And now we are in a privileged position that the structure started creating the players. When we have the competition like we have now in men’s singles, we are pushing each other,” he added.“We are learning from each other. And that gives the benefit to each of the players and to French badminton.”