We call it panache, the real thing. Even if he still suffers from an injury to his left leg which handicaps him on a daily basis, following a fall on the first day of competition, and even if he was already certain of being qualified for the semi-finals, Christo Popov wanted to “play the game” and offer himself another victory in these World Tour Finals. In three sets, he defeated the Indonesian Christie, his third player in the world Top 5 in three days (18-21, 21-16, 21-13) after having already beaten Antonsen and Vitidsarn. Mad.
A simply exceptional performance for the Provençal. For this fairy tale to continue, he will have to win on Saturday against the Japanese Kodai Naraoka (match at 5:50 a.m. French time), the 9th player in the BWF who “spared” himself in the competition by losing 21-9, 21-11 in a match where he was already certain of being qualified…
The two best players in the world will face each other in the second half: the Thai Vitidsarn and the Chinese Shi Yu Qi. This was decided by the draw carried out at the end of the last match of the day.
Where no Frenchman had ventured
A more favorable outcome even if it is not a guarantee of guaranteed qualification for the final of the badminton masters and its 3 million dollars in prize money to be shared between the players of the five tables. In addition to valuable points to remain seeded in the first months of the year, there are also significant gains to be won, with a place in the semi-finals securing $60,000. But seeing his attitude on the court, this Friday, in a meeting without major issues, and his thirst for success, the Provençal’s motivation will not be monetary. In any case, he went where no Frenchman had ventured. In the last four of the World Tour Finals!
