Kantaphon Wangcharoen

Kantaphon Wangcharoen (Thai: กันตภณ หวังเจริญ; born 18 September 1998) is a Thai badminton player.^[1] At the young age, Wangcharoen became the runner-up in the senior tournament 2014 Singapore International in the men's singles event after losing the match because of foot injury.^[2] Wangcharoen clinched the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in the boys' singles event,^[3] also part of the junior team that won the mixed team bronze in 2014 and 2016, and Asian mixed team bronze in 2016.

Kantaphon Wangcharoen
Personal information
Country	Thailand
Born	(1998-09-18) 18 September 1998 (age 26) Bangkok, Thailand
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Handedness	Right
Men's singles
Career record	179 wins, 176 losses
Highest ranking	12 (22 October 2019)
Current ranking	43 (15 July 2025)
Medal record Men's badminton Representing  Thailand World Championships 2019 Basel Men's singles Sudirman Cup 2019 Nanning Mixed team SEA Games 2017 Kuala Lumpur Men's team 2019 Philippines Men's singles 2019 Philippines Men's team World Junior Championships 2014 Alor Setar Mixed team 2016 Bilbao Boys' singles 2016 Bilbao Mixed team Asia Junior Championships 2016 Bangkok Mixed team
BWF profile

Wangcharoen was a member of the Thailand national team that won the bronze medals at the 2017, 2019 SEA Games and 2019 Sudirman Cup. He also the finalist at the BWF Grand Prix Gold event 2017 Thailand Masters, and won the 2017 National Championships title.^[4]

At the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, Wangcharoen was criticized by the Thai media after he mocked and made fun of Indonesian fans in front of them by using offensive Thai language. He had recorded and published the offensive video clip on his personal Instagram account himself.^[5]

He ended the 2018 BWF season by qualified to compete at the World Tour Finals and catapulted him to a career-best world ranking of no. 15 at that year.^[6] He won the bronze medal at the 2019 BWF World Championships, becoming the first ever Thai player to win a World Championships medal in the men's singles event.^[7]

Achievements

BWF World Championships

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2019	St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland	Anders Antonsen	15–21, 10–21	Bronze

SEA Games

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2019	Muntinlupa Sports Complex, Metro Manila, Philippines	Loh Kean Yew	21–16, 6–21, 9–21	Bronze

BWF World Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	Bilbao Arena, Bilbao, Spain	Sun Feixiang	9–21, 13–21	Bronze

BWF Grand Prix (1 runner-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2017	Thailand Masters	Tommy Sugiarto	17–21, 11–21	Runner-up

  BWF Grand Prix Gold

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 runner-up)

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Singapore International	Loh Kean Yew	21–19, 14–21, 1–11 retired	Runner-up

  BWF International Challenge tournament

  BWF International Series tournament

  BWF Future Series tournament

Record against selected opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 22 December 2022.^[8]

Player Matches Win Lost Diff. Chen Long 4 1 3 –2 Lin Dan 3 1 2 –1 Shi Yuqi 5 0 5 –5 Zhao Junpeng 2 1 1 0 Chou Tien-chen 7 1 6 –5 Anders Antonsen 3 0 3 –3 Viktor Axelsen 2 0 2 –2 Jan Ø. Jørgensen 1 0 1 –1 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 4 2 2 0 Rajiv Ouseph 2 2 0 +2 Parupalli Kashyap 1 1 0 +1 Srikanth Kidambi 3 1 2 –1

Player Matches Win Lost Diff. B. Sai Praneeth 7 3 4 –1 Lakshya Sen 5 1 4 –3 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 7 3 4 –1 Tommy Sugiarto 5 0 5 –5 Kento Momota 3 0 3 –3 Lee Chong Wei 1 0 1 –1 Liew Daren 2 2 0 +2 Loh Kean Yew 3 0 3 –3 Heo Kwang-hee 3 2 1 +1 Lee Hyun-il 2 1 1 0 Son Wan-ho 3 0 3 –3 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 3 2 1 +1