Thom Gicquel & Delphine Delrue: 2025 Season Highlights

Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue are starting to have their napkin ring at the big table in mixed doubles. For the third time in their career, the French are preparing to compete in the «BWF World Tour Finals»which are to badminton what the Masters is to tennis. Namely the icing on the cake rewarding the eight best in the world in their category. In this case, for Gicquel and Delrue, the mixed doubles. A qualification that the hexagonal tandem achieved “search until the last tournament”recalls Delrue. “It was not a foregone conclusion. We have had pressure over the last three tournaments. It was absolutely necessary to produce precise results. So there is real satisfaction in having obtained this qualification.”

Namely two consecutive finals, at the Hylo Open in Germany then at the Super 500 in Kumamoto, certainly lost each time, but that was enough for their happiness. Even more so after a high quality 2025 vintage, as Gicquel summed up: “It’s been a very good year. We almost achieved all our objectives, except for one final. We wanted to be European champions, but we weren’t. But apart from that, we wanted to qualify for these World Tour Finals, it’s done. We were aiming for the Top 5 in the world, for now we are there. And finally, we wanted to take a medal at the World Championships in Paris and we achieved it. So it’s almost flawless.” “Without forgetting that we won a tournament, and not just any tournament”adds his partner in reference to the Indonesia Open won at the beginning of June, a Super 1000, the highest level on the world circuit.

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5th in the world, the French mixed doubles above all had the merit, as mentioned by Tourangeau, of not missing the major event of its year, namely the Worlds organized at the Adidas Arena in Paris at the end of August-beginning of September. In the same theater as that of the Paris Games a year earlier, a competition in which they had not managed to survive the group stage, Delrue and Gicquel won the bronze medal, the second podium in the history of French badminton at such a level after that, of the same metal, of Hongyan Pi in 2009. A rising performance curve that the French associate not with a precise trigger, but with the simple fact of now having a coach at their disposal at their disposal. Or rather three.

With coaches, life is more beautiful

“Before, we didn’t have a coach”explains Gicquel. “So we were just like club players. It’s been just over a year since we found real work stability, with a staff dedicated to us. This offers calm and serenity to be able to work well at Insep. Maybe if we had this earlier, we could have had a year like this sooner too.” Before adding: “For the moment, with the coaches, things are going well. We have the same vision of how we want to get there, we have the same objectives. So it’s pretty cool after not having anything for a long time.” But neither of them believes that their association has reached its peak: “I don’t think so.”estime Delrue. “Already, although we had a very good year, we were not very consistent. There were still times when our level of play was low, too low. In the future, we must manage not to fall below a certain level.” “I agree, and I also think that we are still young”adds Gicquel, 26 years old like his sidekick. “We still have plenty of experiences to learn and progress to make. I really think the best years of our career are still ahead of us.”

Will they be able to do better in these World Tour Finals than in January 2021, during the 2020 edition postponed due to covid where they reached the semi-final? “Basically, we see it as a bonus because our year is already a success”specifies Delrue. “Afterwards, now that we are there, we can’t help but want to go as far as possible and perform. But whatever happens, it’s really interesting to play this kind of tournament because we’re going to play at least three Top 8 pairs, which means three high quality matches and it doesn’t happen all the time to be able to gain so much experience.

In the group of Thai world numbers 1 Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran, the Blues will start against the Chinese Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin, who are one place ahead of them in the world rankings. A match which, if it ends in success, could open up great prospects for the rest of the tournament. And for later, those who are already thinking about Los Angeles where the next Olympic Games will take place in 2028. “We have a project, a vision to get there, but at the same time, we will take it season by season.”