The French badminton championships ended this Sunday in Cesson-Sévigné. While there weren’t a lot of surprises in terms of medals, the Breton players showed themselves to their advantage, like Thom Gicquel and Qi Xuefei. We review the competition.
During the space of four days, the Glaz Arena in Cesson-Sévigné was the scene of French badminton championships. And while this competition was taking place for the third time in Brittany (after Quimperlé in 2005 and Saint-Brieuc in 2013), the regional players gleaned good places on the various podiums.
A new duel between the Popov brothers
In the men’s singles category, Toma Junior and Christo Popov once again ruled the roost. The two young men of Bulgarian origin made short work of their opponents before meeting in the final for a remake of the previous edition. And this time, the standoff turned to the advantage of Toma Junior (19-21, 21-14, 21-19) who therefore took his revenge on his brother. Amaury Lièvre had the best course among Breton players by reaching the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, Thomas Fourcade, dismissed from the US Talence, put an end to the Bretillien adventure.
Qi Xuefei is still untouchable
She was the overwhelming favorite to her own estate. The adopted Costarmorican did not tremble to win her third title (2020, 2022 and 2023). The 30-year-old easily dominated Rosy Pancasari in the final (21-6, 21-7) in a quick 28-minute encounter. A magnificent result before starting the race for Olympic qualification towards Paris 2024. For his part, Romane Cloteaux-Foucault who was seeded number 2, lost at the gates of the final. The Bretillienne therefore obtained a medal but not necessarily the color she wanted.
Villeger and Maïo create a surprise in men’s doubles
While Toma Junior and Christo Popov seemed to be heading for a new title, William Villeger and Julien Maïo unexpectedly beat the two brothers to the post (21-14, 21-16). The young pair who had recently seen the light of day last October thus won their first title of champion of France. The Bretons Ronan Guéguin and Mattéo Justel lost at the gates of the podium. Among the women, the pair made up of Anne Tran and Margot Lambert, who was seeded number 2, quite logically took precedence over Delphine Delrue and Vimala Heriau (21-18, 17-21, 21-15).
Gicquel and Delrue to the power of five during the French badminton championships
Welcomed like heroes in the Glaz Arena, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue flew over the competition in the mixed doubles category. The pair ranked in the World Top 5 went on to defeat Fabien Delrue and Vimala Heriau (21–19, 21–10) to secure a fifth title at the French Badminton Championships. The Bretillien and the Val-d’Oisienne will now seek to obtain a medal during the European Championships which will take place in two weeks.
