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2 days ago
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File photo of Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Credit: BAI
There will be a new World No 1 in badminton as Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn confirmed his rise to the summit of men’s singles. After his semifinal win at the Singapore Open Super 750 on Saturday, the reigning world champion will also become the world No 1 when the BWF rankings are updated on Tuesday. Vitidsarn overcame Lin Chun Yi in a near one-hour clash 21-11, 25-23 to set up a rematch of the Asian Championships final against China’s Lu Guang Zu. Irrespecitve of the result on Sunday, he has earned enough points to topple Shi Yu Qi, who was knocked out earlier in the week by Lu.
Vitidsarn continues to be the flagbearer for that brilliant junior Class of 2018 that includes Li Shi Feng, Kodai Naraoka and India’s Lakshya Sen. The Thailand pioneer has won Olympic Games silver (losing to Viktor Axelsen last year in Paris), the World Championships gold & silver, the Asian Championships gold and now climbing to the top of the world ladder.
The four men on the podium of the 2018 BWF World Junior Championships were: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (gold), Kodai Naraoka (silver), Lakshya Sen and Li Shi Feng (bronze). Lakshya and Li Shi Feng played the final of the Youth Olympic Games that year, with the Indian winning silver. And at the Asian Championships, Lakshya won gold while Vitidsarn won silver.
Axelsen had good things to say about Vitidsarn after their battle in the World Championships final in 2022. “Vitidsarn’s a great guy, he’s strong mentally and physically,” Axelsen said after his run to gold in Tokyo. “I knew it would be a tough game. I’m happy with the way I responded to his gameplan in the second. He made it hard for me and I stiffened up a little bit, but I turned it around again. He’s a cool guy, on and off the court. He’s 21, and we’ve already played a few matches against each other, and also in other finals. I think there’s many good things for him to come. Hopefully we can have many good matches in future.”
Vitidsarn is no stranger to firsts. He won the Junior World Championships thrice, the first male shuttler to do so in singles. And at the Asian Championships earlier this year he became the first Thai men’s singles champion in 63 years. And having achieved plenty in his career already, Vitidsarn set his sights on All England, where he is yet to taste success. “I’ve won the Asian Youth Championship before, and to be able to win in the elite level is really very happy and very meaningful,” Vitidsarn had told BWF after his triumph in Ningbo. My next goal is to win the All England. I’ve won the World Championships and won a silver medal in the Olympics, but I’ve finished early at several All Englands so I hope to improve my performances at the All England Open next year.”
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