After taking a few days off in the mountains, with family, for the Christmas holidays, Christo Popov is back in training because the season resumes at the beginning of January with a tournament in Malaysia and India. But the 22-year-old French badista needed time to recharge his batteries after his victory at the BWF World Tour Finals, a tournament bringing together the eight best players of the season, a historic feat. In Fos-sur-Mer, at his club, Christo received RMC Sport during training to look back on his performance, what it changed for him, and his future goals.
Christo, how are you? Did the Christmas break do you any good?
Yes, it was really nice. Victory at the World Tour Finals was already a big gift for me and for everyone around me, for my whole family. Santa Claus was very generous.
Can there be a greater gift than winning the World Tour Finals?
Yes, I think there are different types of gifts. Obviously, on a personal level, winning the World Tour Finals was a very nice gift that I can give myself. Afterwards, the most important thing, for my part, remains the family and that everyone is in good health. And it is, so I’m very happy.
Did we have to take the time to digest this incredible performance?
Yes, but rather to take time away from social networks. I did the 24 hours after the victory for the media, where you had to be present and be able to respond to all requests. Afterwards, I really cut it. We went to the mountains. I haven’t necessarily cut out badminton, because I enjoy playing badminton, no matter what, even during the holidays. But it’s more about cutting off the phone a bit and just staying with the family, with my girlfriend, and taking the time, quietly.
At the end of the week of competition, did you end up mentally worn out, especially?
Yes, downright mentally worn out. Every day of the competition, we had to come back to be at 150%, with big matches. I dipped into the reserves every day, and I had to start again, like that, five times. So, a week was a long time, mentally, yes.
During this competition, there were only eight of you, the best players of the season, but do you consider yourself the best bad player in the world at the moment?
Maybe on the week I won, yes. Because I beat world numbers one, two, three, four and nine. It’s something rewarding, meaningful. Afterwards, badminton is such a complex sport that every day is very different. If I replayed the match the following week, maybe I wouldn’t have won. World champion of the year, no. But from this competition, obviously. It remains a very rewarding title, a very coveted title. I’m happy to have won it, to be the first Frenchman to have won it.
How do you explain that that week, everything fell into place perfectly?
There are a lot of things… I think that it was already very important to start as a team. My father came, our physical preparation and my brother too, he was there to put me in the right conditions for training and warming up. All that made it work, this bubble that we created, but also the training beforehand, we didn’t stop. Physically, we were ready. And I demonstrated that well during the tournament. It was also a question of tactics. I tried, every day, to see how to play the opponent, to adapt during the match, then the very slow playing conditions, that played a big role at the start. It didn’t help me at all. Eventually, I managed to get some benefit out of it. This week is also something that made me grow. It’s great.
Has this title changed anything in your life?
In my daily life, here in Fos-sur-Mer, no. We are a small town, we all know each other, every day I meet people who congratulate me. It’s really nice. But on the badminton level, I am perhaps a little better known. People will pay a little more attention to me now during matches. I will be analyzed a lot more too. We’re going to have an eye on me this year. And I will be, let’s say, a seed to beat. It changes my status. I go from challenger to, now, confirmation. It’s a different status, with different expectations, for the next competitions. Now it’s up to me to confirm.
Have you received congratulatory messages from specific people?
I had quite a few friends, from when I was in middle school, in high school. It was really nice. Because for them, badminton is just a hobby or something you do for leisure. I was the only one to practice it at a high level in my entourage, when I was little. They said to themselves: “It was on the L’Equipe channel and even on the front page of L’Equipe”. Badminton is starting to be highlighted, it’s rewarding, it’s great.
This front page of the newspaper L’Equipe, that’s something when you’re a French athlete, right?
I hung this one in my house. This is very significant. Already, I was really happy to put badminton forward, on the front page of the newspaper. That’s something incredible. I didn’t know if it was ever going to happen. It’s done, and what’s more, with my head, even if I don’t care a little (laughs). But I’m very happy that there are a lot of people who now know badminton.
Ten days later, do you realize to what extent you have marked the history of your sport?
Yes, but… in a way, it’s not that I don’t care, but I continue on my way. I am happy with my progress, my progress. Obviously, this is something historic. I’m super happy and I’ll be the first to do it. Afterwards, I am convinced that with the generations to come, there will be other titles, other people who will do it. In any case, I wish it for France.
With Alex Lanier and your brother Toma, you are the leaders of French badminton, is this status easy to carry?
Yes and no. But for my part, I think it’s okay, because we’re a bit used to doing it. This generation has broken down all barriers since they were little. And we always try to look higher. I think we were asked the same questions when we started making youth titles. And then it continues. We always manage to progress, at our own pace. And as long as we still manage to break barriers and get world medals, that’s great.
For this new year, what mentality are you presenting yourself with, what ambitions for these first tournaments in Malaysia and India?
Losing in the first or second round would be a poor performance, even if the level is very dense and the ranking does not at all reflect the level of play on the field. It’s entirely possible that a world top 30, over one day, would be very good and equalize us in terms of level. This is where there is the danger of not relaxing and continuing to train hard at 150%. You don’t have to stop.
When you resumed training, how did you feel? Did you have to work on any particular points?
The idea is to take what went well during training for the World Tour Finals, and try to reproduce that and be in the best conditions. Badminton, from tournament to tournament, with the room being different, the shuttlecock speeds, the playing conditions, you always have to adapt as quickly as possible and that’s what makes the difference. I think that’s where I improved a little this year. We try to concentrate on that, to try to play 100%, our best badminton.
In addition to singles, you do doubles with your brother Toma, are you continuing this double project?
There was no question of stopping in any case. We are continuing this dual objective. We were European champions this year. It made us really happy and it also gives us the motivation to continue. I think we have so much fun in the field and it also helps us to continue during the tours which are quite long. I think that’s a very important thing to keep. As long as we enjoy it, we continue. We worked a lot so that it wasn’t a burden. Because it’s a choice we made and we also have to accept the consequences and disadvantages.
At the end of the Finals, you said that, physically, you reached a milestone, that is to say?
After a very big rally where you really have to push, get endurance in your legs but power at the same time, I needed a few points to recover. I couldn’t do this several times in a row. Now, I am able to do it for several points, for a good while during a set and change the rhythm, come back to a slightly slower rhythm to reboost at a moment and also go on a third set, not fresh, but in any case with a lot of body still to make it a normal set. That’s incredible. It’s thanks to the amount of training, muscular endurance, you have to beat yourself up. It’s a difficult thing to work on. For now, we’re trying to work as much as possible and it’s paying off. Because a week, like at the World Tour Finals, was very demanding on the body. I can now perform well over a week. But the circuit is a lot of sequences of competitions week after week. And that is also a big challenge for the body. We are working so that there are no injuries. Back then, the best players managed to win two tournaments in a row, now, honestly, it’s very rare. It’s very hard, physically, the matches become more and more energy-consuming.
Have the views of your opponents changed?
I think there are players who don’t ask any questions. As there are players who have a lot of apprehension, who ask themselves a lot of questions. For my part, I don’t care a bit. I’m there to perform and try to get as close as possible to my best badminton. Afterwards, the results follow or do not follow. In any case, we give everything on the pitch. I think that’s something we’ve been able to put together. Even in very difficult moments, we try to win a match, even if we played badly. It makes the difference.
You are number one French, 7th in the world, you won the Word Tour Finals… What is the next objective?
Win a world medal. We can allow ourselves to dream about it given the recent results. I think we can get that, not only me, but all three of us, with Alex and my brother.
