New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) When Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue started playing badminton, there was little indication that badminton as a sport could be pursued as a profession in France, let alone take them to a World Championships final.
Nearly two decades later, the French mixed doubles pair are just one win away from becoming world champions.
“It was only passion at that moment. We didn’t know that we can earn money actually, so it was just the fun, the love to compete,” Gicquel recalled.
But their journey to the summit is about more than one match or one medal. It mirrors the transformation of French badminton itself. A sort of a mini ‘French Revolution’.
The world No. 5 pair reached their first World Championships final on Saturday by recovering from a game down to beat China’s Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin 19-21 21-13 21-11. They will face world No. 1 Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping in the final.
For a country that had waited 16 years between its first and second World Championships medals, the presence of French players deep into the biggest events is becoming increasingly familiar.
Gicquel and Delrue have been central to that change.
They won bronze at last year’s World Championships in Paris and this year, they have reached the All England final and the semifinals at the Indonesia and China Super 1000 tournaments.
The defining word, Gicquel believes, is consistency.
“We had a level quickly in our career, but the big deal for us was to be consistent during the year and we worked, we talked a lot about how to do that tactically, technically and mentally,” he told PTI.
Their semifinal was a demonstration of that maturity.
After losing the first game, Delrue admitted she was angry. Instead of allowing the frustration to carry over, the pair focused on changing the tone of the contest.
“We tried to say to each other to stay positive and show at the start of the second set that it will be hard for the Chinese if they want to win,” she said.
They responded by taking the second game 21-13 and then raced 11-0 ahead in the decider.
“We had quite a good start. We were really focused and tried to put pressure a lot on them at the beginning of the third set,” Gicquel said.
The Chinese pair eventually recovered, but the French held their nerve to close out the match.
“I think we have a game that suits well against Chinese pairs actually,” Gicquel said.
Gicquel and Delrue are not alone. Alex Lanier has become the first Frenchman to win a World Championships medal in men’s singles, while the Popov brothers – Christo and Toma Junior — have emerged as major forces in men’s singles, currently ranked 5th and 15th. France has now guaranteed two medals at this championships.
Delrue sees that as evidence of a system beginning to work.
“I think we are getting more professional every year. We can feel that we have some big talents in France and now we have the system that can bring us to the top, I think,” she said.
“To have the Popov brothers and Alex, they are winning a lot, so we need to keep up with them. So it’s a good energy, I think.”
For Gicquel and Delrue, that makes their own journey feel like part of something larger.
“When we started we didn’t know, so it’s a pleasure to have the French badminton grow and it’s a pleasure to be part of this,” Gicquel said.