Ever felt the thrill of an underdog rising? Picture this: two French badminton players, Toma Junior and Christo Popov, are shaking up the Asian-dominated sport, one shuttlecock at a time. Their secret weapon? A week-long training stint with India’s ace players, Lakshya Sen & Kiran George, before the Paris Olympics. Toma Junior spoke to InsideSport on the sidelines of India Open 2025.
Toma on training with Lakshya Sen
Toma regards Lakshya Sen highly. Reflecting on his experience of playing with Lakshya, he believes that builds chemistry. Lakshya’s offensive game did trouble the French brothers but that’s exactly what they were looking at. Thanks to the practice stint, Toma topped his group in Olympics, even beating Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting, who bagged a bronze in Tokyo 2020.
“When we went for the Olympics, we trained with Lakshya and Kiran George. They came into our hall, and we trained together. I think we both have a good connection, and it’s very nice to train with him since he’s a world-class player. It’s always nice to play against those types of talents,” Toma stated.
“Lakhsya is more offensive, and Kiran is defensive; you can put pressure on Kiran compared to Lakshya,” he added.
Badminton in France
While it’s not a French revolution yet in badminton, the sport has certainly gained momentum. Currently, three French players are in Top 50 in Men’s Singles. Toma Junior Popov is within touching distance of making it to the Top 20. The Popov brothers are in Top 15 of Men’s Doubles. The French players are carving a nieche in a sport dominated by Asian players.
Toma Junior credits the French badminton federation for the small surge in popularity. The federation is not ignoring the needs of the players despite it not being a widely followed sport. They are trying to grow the sport and provide all the facilities for the tournament.
However, more importantly, having his brother on his side on a tiring tour that is helping him grow. Both are pushing each other constantly, improving their game.
“The French Badminton Federation is doing well. There’s a good structure for training. We’re pushing ourselves because we train outside the National Center. Yeah, we are pushing each other, wanting to be the best. Even if we miss some tours, we inspire one another to be better, and that’s really nice,” Toma said, recalling how both brothers have improved their performance over time.
Toma and Christo in India Open
However, the brothers had a tough time in the India Open. In the doubles, they lost in the first round to Chinese Taipei’s Kuang Heng Liu and Yang Po-han. In the singles, on Day 3 of the event, Toma lost to Lee Chia-hao in round of 16.
“I think I played well, and I really gave it my all to win the game. But he got a bit lucky at the end, so there isn’t much more to say,” said Christo Popov who lost in a round-of-16 match against Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi.
But despite the loss in India Open, Toma Junior should be happy with his progress. In 2024, he was part of the winning French squad at the European Team Championships. Toma also came close to winning the madrid Masters and Hylo Open, missing the title only in the final. In Men’s Doubles, he is becoming a constant threat alongside his brother. That’s a positive sign for France and world badminton to be democratised.
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