The French number 1 lost to the Indonesian Jonathan Christie. Also eliminated from the mixed doubles composed of Delphine Delrue and Thom Gicquel at the same stage of the competition.
India will not have smiled much more on the blue-white-red contingent than Malaysia a week earlier. Indeed, this Friday, the last two French representatives – Christo Popov in men’s singles and Delphine Delrue-Thom Gicquel in mixed doubles – left for the quarter-finals after matches that were complicated to say the least…
For Popov, the scenario of this quarter-final should leave him with a bit of a bitter taste. Indeed, opposed to 4e world champion, Jonathan Christie, the Frenchman dominated the first set to lead 17-15. Before suddenly committing three almost consecutive errors of judgment to allow the Indonesian to score four points in a row and conclude with his first shuttle of the set (19-21). Stunned, the badista from Fos-sur-Mer suffered the blow and found himself on the ropes, largely led by his opponent (7-15). But he was wrong to lose concentration and it didn’t take much for Popov to get his head above water by winning six points in a row (13-15).
Skip the ad
Aware of the danger, Christie tightened the screw by winning a marathon point at 16-14 in his favor to maintain a small safety cushion (14-17). A three-point advantage that the Indonesian maintained until 19-16, before seeing the Frenchman come back to one point at the end of another rally (18-19). Alas, on the wheel of the match, a last smash from the Habs proved too long and offered victory (19-21, 19-21) to Christie who had lost his first two confrontations against Christo Popov. Unfortunately, there will be no “never two without three”…
Delrue and Gicquel far from the mark
As for the mixed doubles, Delphine Delrue and Thom Gicquel experienced a nightmarish quarter-final against the Thais Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran. 4e in the world rankings, the Asian pair completely outclassed their French counterpart in two sets (21-6, 21-15). Particularly during a one-sided first act, started with a 6-1 for the Thais and concluded with a 7-0. To their pride, the French tandem reacted during the second set when they were trailing 10-3. Alas, returning to three small points behind their opponents (12-15), Delrue was penalized for behavior deemed unsporting, the second warning synonymous with a penalty point. The Thais jumped at the opportunity to regain the lead (14-20) and finish in their second match.
Keep reading
