The Frenchman, 8e world, crossed the threshold of the first round by dominating the Indonesian Alwi Fahran in three sets. He is the last French survivor in the men’s singles table.
The curse of the third round has ended for the French contingent at the Malaysia Open, a Super 1000 tournament – the highest rank on the BWF circuit. Indeed, after the wave of elimination in the final act which hit the Popov brothers – Christo and Oma Junior – in singles and doubles, as well as the mixed duo composed of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, Alex Lanier managed to bring a little sunshine back to the blue house by reaching the milestone of 1is round in… three rounds.
World number 8, the 20-year-old badista, after a half-hearted end to 2025, begins 2026 solidly by dominating the Indonesian Alwi Fahran, 18e global. The Caennais’ victory was not, however, a smooth ride, despite a first set that he dominated head and shoulders (21-13). Behind, he followed up perfectly to break away 11-7, a boulevard towards qualification then opening before him. But as was sometimes the case last year, Lanier made the mistake of taking the first highway exit to complicate his life. Thus, the Indonesian managed to erase his delay (15-15), before offering himself three shuttlecocks to return to one round all. If the first two escaped him, the last was the right one for a few centimeters too much during a delivery by the Frenchman (19-21).
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The Palermo-Maio mixed doubles also qualified
Often in this situation in 2025, Lanier has cracked and bowed. But not this time. Faced with an opponent who suffered physically after a few points, the Frenchman remained very focused and concluded the game without trembling at 21-13 in his favor. In the round of 16, he will have a good chance to play against the Irishman Nhat Nguyen (31e world), or to the Canadian Brian Yang (33e). Also note the victory, in mixed doubles, of the tandem composed of Julien Maio and Léa Palermo, who overthrew, after a catastrophic start, the Indonesian duo Faza-Pranata in three sets (9-21, 21-16, 21-16). In the round of 16, they will try to avenge their compatriots Delphine Delrue and Thom Gicquel by facing the Danes Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund.
