THE European Badminton Championships 2025 are already historical for The French team !
No finals have yet been played in Horssens, but the Blue are already guaranteed to beat their medal record on an edition of the continental meeting. With seven qualifications for the semi-finals, and therefore as many secure podiums, the Tricolor have already done better than the 2024 edition which had enabled them to win three medals and in particular their first two continental titles.
This Friday, April 11, Toma Junior Popov et Alex Lanier validated their ticket for the last square of the simple men from the first rotation of the day. They respectively beaten Ethan Rose (21-9, 21-8) and Nhat Nguyen (21-12, 21-18) in the quarterfinals. The two French people impressed. The first by leaving no chance to his English opponent, the second by dominating and then overthrowing the Irishman who was seeded number 7. Alex Lanier, world number 10, was led 12-14 in the last round before ending up, going in particular from 18-18 to 21-18.
“It was a good meeting. I am happy to win with this state of mind and the way it is all the more pleasant, ”explained for the FFBad Whoever admitted to having had “some doubts” and felt “stress” before the meeting.
In the next round, the licensee at ASPTT Strasbourg will meet another French player: Christo Popov.
And yes, if the tricolor harvest is already historic, it is still far from over. The cadet of the popov siblings took the best on Magnus Johannesen. His defense had something to disgust the Danes. The Frenchman fought with each exchange and made the difference, in particular with six consecutive points to definitively take off in the second round. Even if he needed three game steers to win, the 23-year-old cluster will be at the rendezvous of the last square.
With three of the four semi-finalists of the simple men who are French, these European championships have a French championships …
And it is not only in simple men that the tricolor badists illustrate.
On the same short which saw Toma Junior Popov stand out by being “conquering and dominant”, Eloi Adam and Léo Rossi had a great performance in the quarterfinals of double men. They came to the end of the English Ben Lane and Sean Vendy, heads number 2, in a duel as intense as Charné: 23-21, 20-22, 22-20.
They won their first continental medal there in a painting where another tricolor pair is still in the running despite the elimination of Maël Cattoen and Lucas Renoir : Christo et Toma Junior Popov.
The two brothers will play their quarter -final at the end of the day against the English Callum Hemming/Ethan Van Leeuwen.
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