Michelle Li: Continuing to Inspire

Two Canadian icons, representing two high points of Canada’s badminton evolution, made a mark at the BWF World Championships 2026.

Even as Victor Lai was on track in New Delhi to match or better his historic first medal for Canada, a long-serving Canadian flagbearer was scripting another memorable chapter to her own extraordinary story.

Michelle Li, who has played the lone Canadian hand on the circuit for a decade and a half, and the survivor of several career-threatening injuries, surged to her second World Championships quarterfinal. On the way she beat far younger players like Chiu Pin Chian, Unnati Hooda (after saving two match points), and top 10 mainstay Tomoka Miyazaki.

At 34, Li is among the veterans of the circuit and competing with far younger opponents; yet she showed in Delhi that she is still right up there; still fit, still hungry.

Meanwhile, Lai was steaming steadily towards his goal, following up on a sensational past year when he had won Canada’s first-ever medal. Jeon Hyeok Jin, Mark Shelley Alcala, Loh Kean Yew and Rasmus Gemke were overcome in straight games, despite the difficult conditions and unique challenges posed by each opponent.

With his second consecutive semifinal, Lai had proved his first medal was no one-off occurrence. The making of a youthful icon is still on, and surely, there will be more to come.

Lai might belong to a different generation than Li, but it is evident that it was her example that paved the way for what was to follow. Li was the path-breaker, the one who showed Canada could be competitive even she had to make do with far lesser resources compared to her peers from badminton powerhouses. Having to compete without her own support personnel at tournaments was a severe limitation through most of her career; that she still thrived is a statement on how doggedly she has pursued the badminton dream.

“The biggest thing is my experience helped me a lot,” said Li. “My own competitiveness, even though I’ve had many downs, I always get back up and come back stronger, and I’ve learnt a lot from my mistakes. Now I feel better than I did when I was younger, so I can put all that together now.

“Right now my body feels better than it did 10 years ago, which is very surprising and shocking. I feel I have the right team and support right now which I didn’t have since before Paris (Olympics). So I’m very grateful for my club, my team, my therapist, my boyfriend; everybody who supported me has really uplifted me and I still have the fire to compete with those who are half my age, so I try not to think too much about that, and I just try to enjoy my game.

“Starting from the day when I played my first World Championships, Canada wasn’t even competitive. So now that we’ve two in the quarterfinals, it has given a lot of hope and inspiration to the next generation from Canada, that we can definitely be competitive and we can definitely change the sport globally, not just Asia.”

And while she has had an accomplished career, Li says she derives inspiration from her younger compatriot.

“It’s amazing to see Victor do so well, and Canada has improved a lot,” Li said. “When I was Victor’s age, there was nothing like this ever heard of from Canada. So to see others from the country do so well is always an inspiration. He’s really lifted the standards, and he’s inspired me to keep pushing. Just watching him I learn a lot. I hope that we can go far together.

“In the past it was impossible for me to even make the top 16… it’s about how you change the mindset and confidence of the next generation and to have them believe in themselves and not stick to stereotypes.”

Lai, in turn, paid tribute to the one who had showed the way. Told that Li considers him an inspiration, Lai was touched. “That’s pretty crazy, because she’s the Canadian idol for the past 15 years, so if she said that, it means a lot. For sure we’ve all been inspired by her and her journey because she’s kind of like the first one, the pioneer, in bringing Canadian badminton to the top. This is her second time reaching the quarterfinals. So she’s been top eight twice at the World Championships and it’s no easy feat.”