Rock’n’roll with the Popov brothers in the Joggelihalle

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The saying is not very original, but it is true for Toma Junior Popov and Christo Popov. The two brothers are the sons of Toma Popov, who was also a badminton player and apparently showed them the way. The fact that his brother Mihail also played badminton professionally and took part in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney for Bulgaria is also worth mentioning. The Popovs lived in Bulgaria, but then moved to France. Today, Toma Junior and Christo Popov have French passports and represent the colours of the tricolour. For example, last summer at the Olympics in Paris. The major event was a celebration, also for the two brothers, who were able to play in front of a home crowd.

Toma Junior won his group in the group stage in convincing style, but was then eliminated in the round of 16. In the doubles together with his brother, he was even eliminated in the group stage. Paris may have come too soon to ensure the ultimate exploit and compete for the medals. But the pair have established themselves among the world's best. They have also proven this so far at the YONEX Swiss Open in Basel, where they fought their way into the quarter-finals on Friday with convincing performances in the singles. This earned them valuable world ranking points, which they will gladly take with them on their way to the World Championships in the summer. Because that will take place in... Paris! Another home match for the Popovs, the two are blessed with luck, at least as far as the venues for major badminton events are concerned.

But there is also something for the prize money account in Basel. At the YONEX Swiss Open, there is more money to be won than ever before in the long history of the tournament: 250,000 US dollars. With their victories in the singles competition, the Popovs can safely pocket 1260 US dollars each. If they win their matches on Friday, they will have 3045 US dollars for sure. It won't be easy: Toma Junior will face Li Shi Feng, the tournament's number 4 after all. However, he will be encouraged by the fact that the two are tied 3:3 in their direct duels. His brother Christo will surprisingly be up against India's Sankar Subramanian (BWF ranked 64th), who eliminated Anders Antonsen, the world number 2.

The Popov brothers, on the other hand, were eliminated in the doubles. After their first-round victory against a Thai doubles team, another exhausting duel against Thailand followed. Their duo Kedren/Dechapol won 21:18 and 21:17 in the end. There was still a reward for Popov/Popov: namely 787 US dollars per person and - let's not underestimate this - 50 cents. That's not much, but it's better than nothing. (AWS)