Barely rested after the Christmas holidays, Christo and Toma Junior Popov are back in training. From January 6, the two brothers will begin the first badminton tournament of the season in Malaysia. Before their departure, they opened the doors of their gym in Fos-sur-Mer, their long-time club, to RMC Sport.
Carabins Gymnasium, in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille. Their forever venue, and their favorite club. Toma Junior Popov is the first to arrive, cup of coffee in hand. His little brother Christo, down jacket on his shoulders, the mistral blowing hard outside, follows him a few minutes later. Both are smiling. “Santa was generous,” says Christo. “Rather generous, yes,” adds the big brother. It must be said that for Christo, his gift was already found.
“The victory in the World Tour Finals (tournament bringing together the eight best players of the season), it was already a big gift for me and for everyone around me, for my whole family,” said the youngest. “It was a beautiful gift that I could give myself. Afterwards, the most important thing, for my part, it’s still the family and that everyone is in good health. And that’s the case, so I’m very happy.”
To enjoy their loved ones, they went to the mountains for a few days to recharge their batteries. “It was really nice. We celebrated Christmas there and also Boris’s birthday (the little brother, aged 17), since it was December 24. It allowed us to take a break, to get some fresh air,” relishes Toma Junior, 27 years old.
“Mentally, the desire, having the grinta and all that… it was a little more complicated”
Both of them needed these few days off. The season was long. “I felt it was longer than usual, because we didn’t have many cuts. I think that’s what penalized me a little at the end. Physically, it was fine, there was no problem. But mentally, the desire, having the grinta and all that… it was a little more complicated, I would say,” admits Tomi, as he is nicknamed.
He finished this season in fifteenth place in the world, losing in the round of 16 of the World Championships in Paris, with honors, after a huge fight against the world number three. His little brother pushed his season to the end. Qualified for the BWF World Tour Finals in China, Christo won in this tournament bringing together the eight best players of the season. A historic feat for French badminton.
“I ended up completely worn out mentally. Every day of the competition, I had to come back to be at 150%, with big matches. I won against the world numbers one, two, three, four and nine. It’s something rewarding, significant. It remains a very coveted title. I’m happy to have won it, and to be the first Frenchman”, smiles Christo.
Head to Malaysia then India to launch 2026
But as soon as the season ends, a new one begins. From January 2, the Popovs will be on the plane to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. So, before that, back to training, under the watchful eye of Toma Senior, the Popovs’ dad and coach. “We still have to wake up, open my eyes,” laughs Chriso during the warm-up. “They are coming out of physiotherapy, that’s why they need a little time,” explains the dad. They speak to each other in Bulgarian to give instructions. But on this day, the session is based on masked shots in the frontcourt.
An hour and a half of training, “fairly quiet”, before a “big session in the evening”. “On the pitch, I move much better. When my mind is much better, it goes away,” admits Toma Junior. “When a tournament approaches, we try to work on very specific things,” underlines the coach.
“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 which is different, the shuttle 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%, your best badminton”, confides Christo. All that remains is to put all this in place during the first tournaments, first in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, then in New Delhi, India.
