Who became the first Thai badminton player to win a world singles title in 2023?
Answer
Kunlavut Vitidsarn
Kunlavut Vitidsarn became the first Thai badminton player to win a world singles title in 2023.
Vitidsarn won the men’s singles title at the 2023 BWF World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. He defeated Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the final, becoming Thailand’s first world champion in a singles discipline at the senior World Championships.
The victory marked a major step in a career that had already produced world junior success. Vitidsarn had won three consecutive boys’ singles titles at the BWF World Junior Championships, an unusual achievement in that age-group competition.
His 2023 world title should not be confused with Thailand’s earlier success in women’s singles: Ratchanok Intanon won Thailand’s first senior singles world title in 2013. Vitidsarn’s achievement specifically concerns men’s singles and made him a landmark figure in Thai badminton.