Source: NURPHOTO / Kabir Jhangiani
[Saba Sports News] In the semifinals of the 2025 Singapore Badminton Open, Kunlavut Vitidsarn defeated Lin Chun-Yi 2-0 to advance to the finals, and he will be crowned the men’s singles world No. 1 in early June. He will become the 20th men’s singles world No. 1 of the 21st century, the first men’s singles world No. 1 born after 2000, and Thailand’s first men’s badminton world No. 1. Information shows that Kunlavut, who was born in 2001, is a three-time champion of the World Junior Badminton Championships. Although his popularity is not as high as Lee Zii Jia or Viktor Axelsen, he always manages to appear on the final stage, which could be described as “quietly getting rich.” At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Kunlavut shocked everyone by winning the silver medal in the men’s singles event. So far this year, he has already won three titles at the Thai Open, the Asian Championships, and the Indonesian Masters. Currently, his world ranking has risen to second place in men’s singles, and he will surpass Shi Yuqi next week to claim the top spot. It is understood that Kunlavut comes from an ordinary family in Bangkok, Thailand. His father is an office worker and also a badminton enthusiast. He and his younger sister have been playing and learning badminton at the courts since they were young. Later, Xie Zhihua, coach at BTY Club in Bangkok, Thailand, discovered that this 12-year-old child had a lot of ingenuity in playing badminton and wanted to take him under his wing. However, Kunlavut’s father couldn’t afford tuition for both children. At that time, Ratchanok Intanon’s shocking victory in the women’s singles at the World Badminton Championships shook the nation. The coach wanted to create another male singles world champion. Therefore, BTY Club decided to offer free training for Kunlavut. Kunlavut also proved to be very promising, winning the World Youth Championship in 2017, and repaid Coach Xie Zhihua with his championship title.