An achievement that will certainly call for others. The year 2020 has started well for Christo Popov. The 17-year-old bad player, of Bulgarian origin, took first place in the world junior rankings. A performance that no French had achieved in singles until now… apart from his brother Toma Junior, number 1 in doubles.
In a sport dominated by Asians, the player from Fos-sur-Mer has managed to place France on the world map of badminton. “It is a pride to be the first French in valid category, specifies the left-handed Marseille. I am sure to stay ahead for at least a few months. “A tour de force all the greater for a European since the events on the Old Continent earn significantly fewer points than in Asia. If the Frenchman reached the Grail, it is thanks in particular to his place as finalist at the World Cup last October in Kazan (Russia). Which was already historic for tricolor badminton.
“My goal for 2020 will be to win gold this time at the World Juniors which will take place at the end of the year in Auckland (New Zealand),” said Popov. To achieve this, the 17-year-old young man, who is in Terminale S at the Arthur-Rimbaud high school in Istres (Bouches-du-Rhône), will work hard with his father and trainer Toma. Aged 47, the latter left Bulgaria, where he was national coach, to join France fifteen years ago. “I was two years old when I arrived in Fos,” explains Christo. For me, badminton was obvious. I have always been in this environment since I was born. “
In the final against his brother this weekend?
In the Popov family, there is therefore the father, Toma, the brother, Christo, but also the mother, Tzvetonira, former national badminton referee. Without forgetting the big brother Toma Junior (21 years old) and even the younger Boris (11 years old), who hits his shuttlecocks. For the first time, Christo and Toma Junior are participating in their first joint competition, this weekend, during the French Championships which take place in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin). They qualified this Friday for the quarter-finals.
“In the absence of Brice Leverdez (the French number 1), Christo is seed number 1 and Toma Junior seed number 2, says the dad. For me, it will be complicated but also a great source of pride if my two children end up in the final. “A prospect that delights Christo, who knows that sooner or later he will face his brother in an official match. “If our first match could be in the final of the French Championships, it would be great,” Christo savors. We are not the only ones waiting for this moment. This is something everyone is talking about in badminton! “
If Christo is certainly the most promising of the two Popov brothers, Toma Junior is looking towards the Tokyo Olympics. “I’m already working for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris,” continues Christo. I work for that with the only goal: to become Olympic champion. An obsession for this supporter of OM. “I played football, tennis, and basketball, but it’s the bad thing that I prefer, smiles the young man who speaks French, Bulgarian and English. Definitely, because I won from the start. On the pitch, I’m having fun. And then there is this emulation with my brother which pushes me to surpass myself. »Admirer of Japanese Kento Momota, world number 1 and Chinese Lin Dan, Olympic champion in Beijing and London, Christo Popov is only at the beginning of his dream. “Like them, I am left-handed, they influenced me a lot…”
