PETALING JAYA: It was joy at home for France as Alex Lanier and Toma Junior Popov made it a rare all-French men’s singles final at the Orleans Masters.
Lanier defeated Yudai Okimoto of Japan 21-14, 21-12, while Toma overcame former world junior champion Hu Zhean of China 21-16, 21-14 in the semi-finals at the Palais des Sports on Saturday (March 22).
The standard between Lanier and Toma is close, with the latter holding a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head record.
Lanier is ranked higher at world No. 10, six spots above Toma, who is No. 16.
With both of them, alongside Toma’s brother - Christo Popov, the world No. 5, France boast a commendable singles line-up for the upcoming Thomas Cup Finals, scheduled in Horsens, Denmark, from April 24 to May 3.
France also have a chance to win a second title at home when Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue take on Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje in the mixed doubles final.
RESULTS
SEMI-FINALS
Men's singles: Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) 21-14, 21-12; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Hu Zhean (Chn) 21-16, 21-14.
Men's doubles: Hu Keyuan-Lin Xiangyi (Chn) bt Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana (Ina) 21-19, 21-10; Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Christian faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer (Den) 21-18, 21-19.
Women's singles: Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Tanvi Sharma (Ind) 21-9, 21-16; Pitchamon Opatniputh (Tha) bt Isharani Baruah (Ind) 21-12, 23-21.
Women's doubles: Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Rachel Allessya-Febi Setiawan (Ina) 21-10, 22-20; Lin Chih-chun-Yang Chu-yun (Tpe) bt Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 17-21, 21-19, 21-18.
Mixed doubles: Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Liu Kuang-heng-Jheng Yu-chieh (Tpe) 18-21, 21-18, 21-16; Mathias Christiansen-Alexndra Boje (Den) bt Ruben Garcia-Lucia Rodriguez (Spa) 21-18, 14-21, 21-14.
