The way to a third participation in the Olympic Games in singles (after London in 2012 and Rio in 2016) goes through Orléans for Brice Leverdez. The French and current number one 35th worldwide, who had a time planned to end his career in 2016, is still present at the highest level and is competing tonight against the Dane Victor Svendsen.
For’34-year-old experienced badist, this Orléans Masters is one of the last five tournaments during which he will be able to collect points in the run-up to the Tokyo Games. Interview.
About twenty players who have been withdrawn from the Orléans Masters of badminton
The pandemic has been around for more than one, what does your daily life as a badiste look like in this context?
In one year, I only played six tournaments. Normally, it should have been double. This is a little hard to train a lot so as not to compete a lot, so it’s nice when you have the opportunity to play. And even if I was pretty good, I could only make one match last week at Yonex All England, it’s not easy …
Do you get used to the health constraints on tournaments?
It’s always the same: we do “hotel-room-hotel-room”. But when there is no pre-quarantine, as was the case in Thailand in January for seven or eight days, it’s rather easy to focus on competition and training. In Thailand, you could only leave the room for an hour and fifteen a day for training, there it was complicated.
After the postponement of the Olympics, the qualification race was extended by a year, how did you experience it?
The wait after the first confinement, when we did not know what the rules that the international federation would adopt, were hard. It was two endless months where we did not know what sauce we were going to be eaten.
From now on, you know that you will have to be efficient until June, and in particular in Orléans, to get your ticket to Tokyo …
I come to perform on this tournament because there is something at stake for Olympic qualification. I am one of the three or four French players potentially qualifying (as French N ° 1, Brice Leverdez is in the best position to win the only ticket awarded in men’s singles). The goal is to score points. And then I am currently 18th on the international Olympic qualifiers list and only the first 16 will be seeded. The two in front of me are not very far, I can go get them.
You will be 38 when France will host the Olympic Games in 2024… Is the deadline in the back of your mind?
Three years, it’s not that far ! My body is still fit to play. I had planned to stop my career in 2016, finally, I continued and I still want to continue. After that it will be more mental: will I be ready to fight for another three years? I will continue to Tokyo and after I will see. It will depend on the opportunities that arise.
Jerome Couton-Coudray
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