It is the story of progression, lasting and regular. In November 2021, Anne Tran and Margot Lambert entered the world top 100, for the first time since the formation of their pair a few months earlier. The women’s doubles specialists currently occupy 19th place in the BWF rankings. No other European duo is currently playing this high.
At the European Championships which are being held this week in Saarbrücken (Germany), Anne Tran (27 years old) and Margot Lambert (25 years old) therefore have a big chance to play. An ambition that they did not hide before entering the fray. “I hope to win the title,” said the youngest of the pair. The quest started well since they won in the first round on Thursday to validate their ticket leading to the Paris Games. They will thus form the first French women’s doubles at the Olympics since the 1992 experience.
How do the three-time French champions find themselves riding such a dynamic? Progression starts from careful work on their style of play. “Basically, we are attackers, we like to put pressure on our opponents,” describes Anne Tran. So we developed a lot of attack combinations. Now, we are better able to know where the other is going to attack, to turn the game around when we are on defense. On top of that, we learned to be more patient in slow rooms. We will sometimes restart the attack to tire out the opponents a little more. »
On the same wavelength
The success of these strategies relies heavily on the founding element of a pair: complicity. An understanding which includes an element of instinct but which also requires work. “For the past year and a half, we’ve been doing a lot of mental preparation and that helps us understand each other,” emphasizes Margot Lambert. We analyze our competitions, our matches, how we experienced it. Sometimes, it’s just analyzes of our daily lives, of what one or the other feels. Because a pair in badminton is a bit like a couple, except that we’re not in love (laughing). »
“A pair in badminton is a bit like a couple, except that we’re not in love”
This quest for harmony requires optimal communication during matches. The partners therefore practice passing on information. The natural solution is to talk to each other, “say things to each other,” explains Anne Tran. But it’s not just the form itself, there’s also the temporality. Know when to stop the game to clarify our communication and be on the same wavelength. »
The second solution involves decrypting the teammate. “There, we are non-verbal, we base ourselves on attitudes,” continues the player from the Racing Club de France. We see how the other person feels and we can manage to get them back into the game. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of a weak moment to let pass before leaving again. »
The alchemy is complex but Anne Tran and Margot Lambert are getting ever closer. In October, during the French Open, they became the first French women’s pair to reach the quarter-finals of a Super 750 tournament. The ascension now goes through the European Championships.
2024-04-11 12:41:39
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