Victor Lai Diary: The Campaign Ends

A gruelling semifinal saw Alex Lanier leverage his physicality and outlast Victor Lai, stopping Lai from becoming the first Canadian in a BWF World Championships final.

With his dream ending in the semifinals – the same stage as last year — Lai contemplated the defeat:

“The energy was a little low, but also, he was on the slower side so he could push me to the back and I had to worry about hitting it out, so he finished on the better side, which is always hard for me. I didn’t have a big enough lead in the end.

“I knew he’s physically probably the strongest player on the Tour, so he can always keep up his speed and his power for the whole three games. So that’s just kudos to him, and that’s something I need to work on.

“At the beginning of the third game I was defending well, but when I changed I started to make easy defensive errors, maybe just the pressure, or the errors got me a little bit, and also maybe the wind played a factor. But he kept his speed up the whole match.

“In the beginning both of us were nervous, of course, but the wind kind of changed from the other day. So today I thought I started at the quicker side but it actually turned out the slower side. My pushes were all in, and he had a hard time judging whether it was in or out, so in the first game I felt really good, but in the second the wind was really strong and he could rush to the front a bit and keep me at the backline, and I wasn’t able to find an answer.

“Of course I’m really proud. I wanted a different colour medal than last year, but I’m so proud of the way I handled the pressure and the expectations. I fought through some pretty tough matches to get into the semifinals today.

“The dominant feeling is sadness. Because I felt like this year, I felt like I’m more matured, and I have more experience but just couldn’t keep up physically today. His pace was too quick for me. I would say not as proud as last year, because last year was a big shock.

“So of course, obviously proud of a World Championships medal; not everyone can say that. But a little bit more disappointed than last year.

“When I see that Canadian flag (at the prize ceremony) there will be so much pride, I’ll be very proud of myself for that, but at the moment I’m a little disappointed.”

Follow Lai’s BWF World Championships Journey Here:

Victor Lai Diary 6: ‘I Proved Last Year Wasn’t Luck’

Victor Lai Diary 1: Walking on the Clouds