Frenchman Alex Lanier tells us how his journey of becoming a professional badminton player began and his rapid rise to the top of the game. The 19-year-old capped a string of good results including the Japan Open win to walk away with the BWF Rising Star of the Year award in 2024.
Lanier lost to Thailand's world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn after a 11-21, 21-12, 21-23 nail-biting battle in the men's singles first round of the Malaysia Open on Wednesday (Jan 8).
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Lanier lost to Thailand's world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn after a 11-21, 21-12, 21-23 nail-biting battle in the men's singles first round of the Malaysia Open on Wednesday (Jan 8).
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00Alex, you are a newcomer in this game, and a lot of people do not really know you, can
00:24you tell us a bit about your journey to picking up the racket and playing badminton?
00:30Actually it came from my parents, they were playing badminton, so yeah, it just came and
00:35You just see them play and you learn a bit and you like it?
00:40Yeah, I mean, I was just going with them on the ball and yeah, with the time, I just felt
00:46that I enjoyed playing badminton and I was also good, so yeah, these two factors gave
00:53me the wants to play badminton.
00:58Did you draw some inspiration from some players and stuff like that?
01:02I would say when I started badminton, not really, because I was not really watching
01:07a lot of badminton, but then with the time and around maybe 14, yeah, I was more watching
01:15Linda and Lee Chong Wei obviously, but also Anders Nortensen, I was watching quite a lot.
01:22And yeah, there is also some other players, but I would say I'm taking more parts of their
01:29game, just to have inspiration and analyse how they do.
01:34Do you think you can reach that level, try to reach something like Chong Wei?
01:41Yeah, I think I'm not arrived obviously, but yeah, I think definitely I can reach their level.
01:50I'm also really trying hard every day to be the best, so yeah, I know that I have many
01:58things to learn and many things to improve, but still I try my best to reach their level.
02:04You actually have a lot of power, you know, compared to players at your age, so do you
02:10really focus a lot on your physical training, Albert?
02:14I think so, I think so, yeah, but we are also just trying to practice smart, obviously hard,
02:23but also smart and I think definitely it works for me.
02:28I cannot say that I'm playing like six hours or seven, eight, I don't know, like many hours,
02:34but we are trying just to be efficient when we are practicing.
02:40Actually, I see a lot of similarity, your game and Ian Jorgensen, so do you actually
02:47watch a bit of his game and learn a bit from him?
02:50Not really, actually, yeah.
02:51Is this like developed, you know, the game like that?
02:53Yeah, I think I just developed the game like that, I didn't, I mean, I saw some of his
03:00game, but that's not one of the players I was watching the most, he's way older than
03:07me, so it was the period where I was young and I was not really watching badminton in
03:14general, and it was not only him, I mean, I was not really watching the players from
03:19this period of time.
03:22You got the Rising Star of the Year award in 2024 because of your win, you know, in
03:28Japan Open and also your rise, you know, to the top of the game, so you have a lot of
03:34expectation for yourself or what, you want to, you know, push harder?
03:38I don't know, I don't really feel it, I mean, I know that there is more expectation, of
03:44course, but I think I'm managing quite well and, yeah, playing the same way as before.