Author: nicolas-debouchaud

In England, the YONEX ALL ENGLAND OPEN BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023 tournament welcomed, as usual, a panel of international athletes, including some French. We could see the POPOV brothers, Thomas Junior and Christo, but also others, such as the women's duets Margot LAMBERT and Anne TRAN and the men's duets, Lucas CORVEE and Ronan LABAR but also the mixed doubles, Thom GICQUEL Delphine DELRUE.

 

Concerning the French performance :

 

Thomas Junior, a regular at the Orléans Masters with 6 participations to date, did not manage to qualify for the quarter finals either in men's singles or in men's doubles with his brother, Christo POPOV. They are expected to play in the new edition of the Orléans Masters 2023.

Same result for our mixed duo composed of Thom GICQUEL and Delphine DELRUE, the women's double, Margot Lambert and Ann TRAN and the men's double composed of Lucas CORVEE and Ronan LABAR.

 

On the podium of this tournament, none of the players who passed through the Orléans Masters Badminton were unfortunately retained :

 

However, we can underline some very good performances during this tournament, like the mixed doubles of the Indonesians Rehan Naufal KUSHARJANTO and Lisa Ayu HUSUMAWATI, who we could see during some editions of the Orleans Masters, but who unfortunately had to lose in the semi-final against the Chinese ZHENG Si Wei and HUANG Ya Qiong in 2 sets 1 (21-17, 13-21, 21-13). But also the Malaysian LEE Zii Jia, who we saw during the 2017 edition of the Orleans Masters, who despite his defeat in the semi-final against the Chinese SHI Yu Qi in 2 sets 0 (21-19, 21-13) still played well.

Moreover, we will have the honour to welcome this year Anders ANTONSEN, the 14th in the world in men's singles, who reached the semi-finals, but lost to LI Shi Feng in 2 sets 1 (11-21, 21-19, 18-21). His name will probably ring a bell, as his brother, Kasper ANTONSEN, has played 4 times in the Orleans Masters tournament.

 

Regarding the results of this tournament :

 

• Women's singles: the Korean, AN Se Young and currently 2nd in the world, wins against the Chinese CHEN Yu Fei in 2 sets 1 (21-17, 10-21, 21-19)
  
  
• Men's singles : Chinese LI Shi Feng wins against his compatriot SHI Yu Qi in 2 sets (26-24, 21-5)
  
  
• Women's doubles : the world 3rd, KIM So Yeong and KONG Hee Yong win against their Korean compatriots, BAEK Ha Na and LEE So Hee in 2 sets (21-5, 21-12)
  
  
• Men's doubles: the Indonesians ranked number 1 in the world, Fajar ALFIAN and Muhammad Rian ARDIANTO win against their colleagues from the same country, the 3rd in the world, Mohammad AHSAN and Hendra SETIAWAN in 2 sets (21-17, 21-14)
  
  
• Mixed doubles: the Chinese world number 1, ZHENG Si Wei and HUANG Ya Qiong win against the Koreans, SEO Seung Jae and CHAE Yu Jung in 2 sets 1 (21-16, 16-21, 21-12)
  

The competitions are still going on, especially in Germany, where the athletes were expected for the YONEX GERMAN OPEN 2023 tournament.

 

Among the internationals, the French were present and in particular some who are well known to the Orleans Masters, such as the brothers Christo and Toma Junior POPOV, the men's duet Lucas CORVEE/Ronan LABAR and the women's duet Margot LAMBERT/Anne TRAN or the mixed duo .

 

Concerning their performances :

 

The POPOV brothers unfortunately did not manage to qualify for the quarters, either in singles or in men's doubles and the same goes for the women's duos LAMBERT/TRAN and men's duos Lucas CORVEE/Ronan LABAR.

The mixed doubles composed of Thom GICQUEL and Delphine DELRUE qualified for the quarter-finals but were unfortunately stopped after 2 sets to 0 (21-16, 21-13) by the Japanese: Natsu Saito and Hiroki Midorikawa.

 

On the podium of this tournament, we find :

 

Women's singles : The Japanese world number 1, Akane YAMAGUCHI won against the Korean An Se Young in 2 sets 0 (21-11, 21,14)

Men's singles : Hong Kong's NG Ka Long Angus wins against China's Li Shi Feng in 2 sets 1 (20-22, 21-18, 21-18)

Women's doubles : The Japanese duo BAEK Ha Na and LEE So Hee wins 2 sets 0 (21-19, 21-15)

Men's doubles : CHOI Sol Gyu and KIM Won Ho, the Korean duo and currently N°10 in the world, wins against their compatriot KANG Min Hyuk and SEO Seung Jae in 2 sets 1 (21-19, 18-21, 21-19)

Mixed doubles : The Chinese FENG Yan Zhe and HUANG Dong Ping win against the Korean duo in 2 sets 0 (21-4, 21-15)

Silver medal for France at the 2023 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships !

 

It is during this championship (more commonly known as EMTC) that the French obtained the silver medal after impressive matches !

During 5 days, from 14 to 18 February 2023, the French badminton team, composed among others of the POPOV brothers, the mixed doubles GICQUEL/DELRUE or the women's duo LAMBERT/TRAN, gave their all to win the gold medal in the town of Aire-sur-La-Lys in Pas-de-Calais, France.

 

The 7 other best European teams also tried their best to win the title: we found the team from Germany, England, Bulgaria, Scotland, the Netherlands, Ukraine and finally Denmark, winner for the second time of this championship.

 

Indeed :

It was in the final against France that the Danish team (3-2) retained its title for the 2023 European Mixed Team Badminton Championship after the 2021 edition, thanks to the victory in the men's singles of Viktor AXELSEN, number 1 in the world, over Frenchman Christo POPOV who fought remarkably well with 2 sets to 1 in 1h12 of play (15-21, 22-20, 21-14).

Similarly, despite the victory of the mixed doubles well known in the world ranking since in 5th place and winner of our 2019 edition, Thom GICQUEL/Delphine DELRUE, in 2 sets against Mathias CHRISTIANSEN and Amalie MAGELUND (21-1/24-22), this will not have offered France the opportunity to seize the gold medal.

 

Detailed results for the French team in the final :

◾ Women's singles: QI XUEFEI lost to Line CHRISTOPHERSEN from Denmark in 2 sets (12/21 11/21)

◾ Men's Doubles: Thom GICQUEL and Thomas Junior POPOV win together their match against the Danish duo ASTRUP/SOGAARD with 2 sets (21-19/21-19).

◾ Women's Doubles: the duo DELRUE/LAMBERT unfortunately had to leave their place to the Danish FRUERGAARD/THYGESEN, a place that was well defended in the first set but that did not turn in their favour in the last 2 (21-17/15-21/14-21).