THE World Tour FinalsChristo Popov was already able to taste it, in 2021, with his brother Toma Junior. It was doubles, during the Covid crisis and in front of empty stands…”It was a stroke of luck. Honestly, we had to say it the same day, we didn’t really have our place because it was Covid and a lot of pairs couldn’t play. But it was an incredible experience.“
Here he is back in the big world bad festival which brings together the eight best players in each table over the calendar year.
And this time, no luck; Christo Popov deserves his selection. An event with the splendor of the BWF granted to the competition in the image of a prize money of 3,000,000 dollars (compared to 1,500,000 again in 2022) and stands which will this time be full in Hangzhou. “It sounds like something where you say to yourself: ‘Am I going to be able to qualify there one day?’ It’s one of the career goals and it’s great. When you also see how far you have come…”
Only 31st in the world on March 17
A participation that was not possible on March 17 when Christo Popov was ranked 31st in the world. He was not even directly qualified for the world championships at the time, close to leaving the best world tournaments. And the magic happened. The young Fosséen (23 years old) produced some top-notch performances to reach 8th place in the world, nine months later.
“Honestly, I think I had that in me, I knew I had the level. We worked a lot physically, I had things to show. The fact of having made my first semi-final, in Singapore, beating major players helped me a lot. In fact, it unlocks you, you play better, we gain confidence and we continue. In the end, losing the 1st round, the 2nd round, it was impossible. We can’t, we can’t anymore. So, actually, it’s a change in mentality too.“
On his roster, ten players in the world Top10 in 19 matches. 10 quarter-finals or better in the last 14 tournaments to the point of qualifying for the bad “masters” in China. “Honestly, it’s true that it’s crazy because in the end, my ranking is really only over the last six months.“
“Go at least to the semi-final”
During this great bad festival, Christo Popov will challenge Anders Antonsen this Wednesday (around 10 a.m. in France), a remake of the IFB final in Cesson, Thursday the Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Friday the Indonesian Jonatan Christie, all present in pool A. A competition that he did not take lightly like the entire Popov clan.
His brother also made the trip to Asia to allow him to be in the best possible condition, his father and the physical trainer, Antoine Pichonet, will also be there to support him for this final competition of the year. “It’s a goal. Obviously, we can’t just go there, without pretensionrecalls Christo Popov. It’s like the Games. And then, these are big matches, directly against the top 8 and we have to get out of the group so it will be marathons. It’s going to be three days straight. What also changes is that you can play again after losing. The goal is to get to at least the semi-final.“And end in the best possible way an exceptional year for Christo Popov.
