Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Toma Junior Popov

Toma Junior Popov
Personal information
CountryFrance
Born (1998-09-29) 29 September 1998 (age 26)
Sofia, Bulgaria
ResidenceFos-sur-Mer, France
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight86 kg (190 lb)
HandednessRight
Men's singles & doubles
Highest ranking18 (MS, 8 October 2024)
20 (MD with Christo Popov, 11 October 2022)
Current ranking18 (MS)
33 (MD with Christo Popov) (8 October 2024)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  France
European Games
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Men's singles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Men's doubles
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2024 Saarbrücken Men's singles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Madrid Men's singles
European Men's Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Kazan Men's team
Silver medal – second place 2024 Łódź Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Kazan Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Liévin Men's team
European Mixed Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 2021 Vantaa Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2023 Aire-sur-la-Lys Mixed team
Mediterranean Games
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Tarragona Men's singles
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Mulhouse Boys' singles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Mulhouse Boys' doubles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Mulhouse Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Lubin Boys' singles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Lubin Mixed team
BWF profile

Toma Junior Popov (born 29 September 1998) is a French badminton player.[1][2] He won the bronze medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships in the boys' singles event.[3] Popov made history as the first non-Danish male player to win a European Junior team gold as well as the men's singles and doubles in 2017. He joined Peter Gade, Jim Laugesen, and Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen as the only men to have ever completed the treble.[4] He competed at the 2018 Mediterranean Games and claimed the men's singles bronze medal.[5]

Personal life

Born in Sofia, Popov came from a badminton family. His father, Thomas, is a former Bulgarian and French national player. His brother, Christo Popov, also plays badminton. He started to play when he is 8 with neighbour and won his school championship at age of 9. Both of them trained at the Fos-sur-Mer club.[6]

Achievements

European Games

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2023 Arena Jaskółka, Tarnów, Poland Denmark Viktor Axelsen 17–21, 18–21 Bronze Bronze

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2023 Arena Jaskółka,
Tarnów, Poland
France Christo Popov United Kingdom Ben Lane
United Kingdom Sean Vendy
15–21, 14–21 Bronze Bronze

European Championships

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2022 Polideportivo Municipal Gallur, Madrid, Spain Denmark Anders Antonsen 16–21, 21–19, 15–21 Bronze Bronze
2024 Saarlandhalle, Saarbrücken, Germany Denmark Anders Antonsen 18–21, 13–21 Silver Silver

Mediterranean Games

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2018 El Morell Pavilion, Tarragona, Spain Turkey Muhammed Ali Kurt 21–17, 21–16 Bronze Bronze

European Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2015 Regional Sport Centrum Hall, Lubin, Poland Denmark Anders Antonsen 13–21, 9–21 Bronze Bronze
2017 Centre Sportif Régional d'Alsace, Mulhouse, France France Arnaud Merklé 21–14, 21–15 Gold Gold

Boys' doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 Centre Sportif Régional d'Alsace,
Mulhouse, France
France Thom Gicquel England Max Flynn
England Callum Hemming
21–17, 21–13 Gold Gold

BWF World Tour (4 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[7] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the BWF World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[8]

Men's singles

Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result
2020 SaarLorLux Open Super 100 Netherlands Mark Caljouw 22–20, 19–21, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2021 Orléans Masters Super 100 Denmark Mads Christophersen 23–21, 21–13 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2021 Spain Masters Super 300 Indonesia Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21–15, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2022 Orléans Masters Super 100 India Mithun Manjunath 21–11, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2024 Spain Masters Super 300 Singapore Loh Kean Yew 11–21, 21–15, 20–22 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2024 Hylo Open Super 300 France Christo Popov 13–21, 10–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

BWF International Challenge/Series (10 titles, 1 runner-up)

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2016 Latvia International Finland Kasper Lehikoinen 21–14, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Hellas International Czech Republic Ondřej Král 21–7, 21–13 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Latvia International France Léo Rossi 21–10, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Spanish International France Lucas Corvée 21–13, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Bulgarian Open France Arnaud Merklé 22–20, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Czech Open Denmark Victor Svendsen 21–16, 21–11 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Bulgarian Open New Zealand Abhinav Manota 21–15, 21–10 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Irish Open Spain Pablo Abián 21–10, 24–22 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Bulgarian Eurasia Open France Thomas Vallez France Ronan Guéguin
France Alexandre Hammer
11–10, 11–10, 11–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Bulgarian Open France Christo Popov Chinese Taipei Chen Yu-jun
Chinese Taipei Lin Bing-wei
17–21, 21–7, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Italian International France Christo Popov Germany Bjarne Geiss
Germany Jan Colin Völker
18–21, 16–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

BWF Junior International (9 titles, 4 runners-up)

Boys' singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2014 Bulgarian Junior International France Alexandre Hammer 11–10, 4–11, 4–11, 11–6, 11–4 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Bulgarian Junior International Bulgaria Daniel Nikolov 21–9, 19–21, 13–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2015 Slovenia Junior International Austria Wolfgang Gnedt 21–14, 10–21, 23–21 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Hellas Junior International Republic of Ireland Nhat Nguyen 21–17, 11–21, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Belgian Junior International France Arnaud Merklé 21–15, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Danish Junior Cup Republic of Ireland Nhat Nguyen 21–16, 19–21, 24–22 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

Boys' doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Bulgarian Junior International France Thomas Vallez France Ronan Gueguin
France Alexandre Hammer
10–11, 11–10, 9–11, 11–6, 6–11 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2015 Hungarian Junior International France Thomas Vallez Poland Aleksander Jabłoński
Poland Paweł Śmiłowski
21–17, 20–22, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Slovenia Junior International France Gregor Dunikowski Turkey Emre Cömert
Turkey Baran Yüksel
21–16, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Hellas Junior International France Thomas Baures France Éloi Adam
France Samy Corvée
21–18, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Bulgarian Junior International France Léo Rossi Thailand Pakin Kuna-anuvit
Thailand Natthapat Trinkajee
13–21, 8–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2016 Belgian Junior International France Léo Rossi England Zach Russ
England Steven Stallwood
21–11, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Danish Junior Cup Denmark Karl Thor Søndergaard Denmark Rasmus Kjær
Denmark Jesper Toft
14–21, 21–17, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
  BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament
  BWF Junior International Challenge tournament
  BWF Junior International Series tournament
  BWF Junior Future Series tournament

References

  1. ^ "Players: Toma Junior Popov". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  2. ^ "Badminton - Toma Junior Popov" (in French). Info Média Conseil. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  3. ^ "European Junior Championships, Individuals". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  4. ^ Phlean, Mark. "Popov does double and creates history". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  5. ^ "Athlete Profile: Popov Toma Tomov". Tarragona 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  6. ^ "The Popov dynasty". FZ Forza. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  7. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  8. ^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.