The disappointment is immense, proportionate to the intensity of the duel that they delivered this Friday noon to the Indonesians Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari in Bangkok during their third and last match of group A at the finals of the World Tour in Bangkok (Thailand) .
In a face-to-face double or quits between two pairs credited with a victory each and whose winners were guaranteed to accompany in the semi-finals the triple world champions and Chinese Olympic vice-champions, Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong, seeded n°1, Thom Gicquel (Red Star Mulhouse) and Delphine Delrue (Chambly), world n°10, more than glimpsed the last four of the mixed they had reached for their first participation in January 2021, already in the Thai capital.
After dominating the first set (21-14), then losing the second (17-21) when they were leading 16-14, they offered themselves no less than five match shuttlecocks in the third and final set (at 20 -17, 21-20 and 22-21). But failing to conclude, despite a breathless rally at 21-20, they ended up disillusioned by giving in on the first they conceded and were eliminated (21-14, 17-21, 22-24).
“It’s very hard to take”
A very painful moment for the vice-champions of Europe 2022 who thus left their place in the semi-finals to their executioners of the day. Difficult for a Thom Gicquel still in shock to come out positive after this cruel elimination, even if the quadruple champions of France had the merit of recovering after the slap received on Wednesday against Zheng / Huang and winning the next day against the Malaysians Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie, 11th and seeded n°4 (16-21, 21-18, 21-17). “For the moment, I cannot say if there is satisfaction. It’s very hard to take,” sighs the leader of Red Star, “We were unlucky in the end. We should have won and that’s c… I don’t have much to add. »
There are moments in a career when words express less than silences.
