Canada Open: Home Hope Lai Creates Sensation
Text by BWF
World No.72 Victor Lai stunned second seed Kodai Naraoka to make the final of the YONEX Canada Open 2025 – his first final on the HSBC BWF World Tour.
The 20-year-old Canadian outplayed the world No.7 in a marathon 98 minutes, winning the thriller 21-19 16-21 21-17.
Lai, who has had a breakout year winning the Pan Am Championships, will be up against another Japanese, Kenta Nishimoto, in the final.
The other semifinal too went the distance, with Nishimoto holding off Kidambi Srikanth 19-21 21-14 21-18 in 78 minutes.
Canada however suffered a blow in the last match of the day, with four-time champion and home favourite Michelle Li falling to Manami Suizu 21-18 21-13. Suizu takes on Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh, who prevailed over Amalie Schulz 21-23 21-11 21-10.
» USA’s Presley Smith/Jennie Gai reached their first HSBC BWF World Tour final beating Germany’s Marvin Seidel/Thuc Phuong Nguyen 21-9 21-15.