Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Tuesday January 6, 2026 at 12:25 p.m.
Two weeks after winning the World Tour Finals, Christo Popov fell from a height this Tuesday at the Malaysian Open, being eliminated from the start of the tournament after his defeat against Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Return to earth for Christo Popov (23 years old). If it was in Paris that the snow caused a wave of panic at the start of the week, the new French badminton prodigy experienced a severe cold snap in Malaysia. Two weeks after climbing onto the roof of the planet, the now 7th in the world ranking has already come down from his cloud, very violently to boot.
After his historic coronation – no Habs had ever managed to win this meeting which constitutes the finals of the most prestigious badminton circuit – from December 22 to the World Tour Finals, the young French badista was naturally one of the big favorites, not to say the huge favorite – of the Malaysian Open, an event classified in the Super 1000 category and much less prestigious than the equivalent of the Masters in tennis which had seen him lift the trophy at the end of the year at a general surprise but to the delight of French supporters.
A second chance in doubles with his big brother
However, just as surprisingly, the youngest of the Popov brothers took the front door this Tuesday after his defeat against Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, 18th in the world rankings. The duel gave rise to a sumptuous fight.
Unfortunately for Popov, who had easily outclassed his opponent in the first set of the match, the Hong Konger, after having already achieved the feat of getting back to one set everywhere, created an even greater sensation by also winning the deciding set (victory 13-21, 21-19, 23-21) notably after two extremely competitive last points.
Already out of the running in singles, the native of Sofia will nevertheless have the opportunity to redeem himself in doubles, which he competes with his brother Toma Junior (27 years old). The two men will certainly be revengeful since the eldest of the siblings also bit the dust upon entering Malaysia.
