PETALING JAYA: It was a historic day for French badminton as Alex Lanier and Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue stormed into the men’s singles and mixed doubles finals at the World Championships in New Delhi on Saturday (Aug 22).
Never before have France had a representative in the final of any event at the world meet, but they will now have two shots at glory.
Gicquel-Delrue made it to the semi-finals at the last edition before bowing out.
The 21-year-old Lanier battled for one hour and 25 minutes to beat Victor Lai of Canada 16-21, 21-13, 21-14 in an energy-sapping semi-final match at the Indira Gandhi Stadium.
He will take on Kodai Naraoka of Japan, who also stayed on the court for 74 minutes to beat Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan 17-21, 21-11, 21-10 in another semi-final match.
In their only match in the international stage before this, the 25-year-old Naraoka had beaten Lanier at the 2023 Sudirman Cup.
Gicquel-Delrue were in their element as they upstaged second seeds Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin 19-21, 21-13, 21-11 in 63 minutes.
They will face top seeds Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping of China next.
Can France end their world title wait in India?
"We're very happy, we played a great match. The intensity was very high, the stress also. Super proud to reach our first final at the World Championships," said Delrue.
