He varied his shots perfectly, causing immense problems for Koki Watanabe who had the audacity to dominate his brother the day before. But he will not add a second Popov to his list. On this Friday afternoon, Christo Popov (world No.24) was the smartest on the court by easily winning (21-17, 21-10) and qualifying for the semi-finals of the All England against the immense Viktor Axelsen (world No.1) or the Indonesian Ginting (seeded No.5 in the tournament).
The Fosséen could raise his arms to the sky, greet the British crowd, happy. As if he himself couldn’t believe having signed a new feat in the English Super1000 after having managed to reach the quarters on Thursday and now pocket 8,400 points in the world ranking, a total never achieved by a French player. For his first singles participation in the legendary English tournament, Christo Popov achieved a masterstroke. He took another step towards a place in the sixteen best in the world in the race for qualification for the Paris Games and at the same time, advancing as a potential medalist this summer in Paris!
Eleven match shuttlecocks!
A performance far from a foregone conclusion for the Fosséen who had spent more time on the court since the start of the English week than his Japanese rival. Who competed in real marathons during the last two rounds. But here, in the best form of his young career, the recent winner of the German Open, continues his recital by practicing a very high level bad. Koki Watanabe had to face the facts by being shaken during the two rounds against a Ditchen player who was able to take the lead (11-6). And despite a good reaction from Watanabe (11-9), the 2024 French champion was able to keep his calm to resume his march forward (17-11); maintain his composure (all British) when Watanabe recovered (17-16) to finally fly away and make short work of his rival in a second one-sided set offering 11 match shuttlecocks (11-5, 12 -8, 20-9).
A tournament that will long remain in the memories of the Fosséen who is now moving towards the best ranking of his career and not far from entering the top 20 in the world! Another record for the bad tricolor…
2024-03-15 13:51:58
#Sports #Badminton #England #Christo #Popov #history #French #bad
