One of France’s biggest-ever moments came with Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue claiming the KAPAL API Indonesia Open 2025 with an imperious performance over Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran.

History came in somewhat anti-climactic fashion. On match point, Gicquel played to the sideline, Puavaranukroh let it fall and then raised his hand to challenge the ‘in’ call, before realising that the Thais had no challenge left. Gicquel wrapped Delrue in a bear hug as they celebrated France’s first Super 1000 title, their biggest achievement in a paired event.

It was a scene far removed from their minds when they’d started their campaign, for they were nearly bundled out in the opening round by home pair Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja. They only got stronger from there, and against Puavaranukroh/Paewsampran – who had won their five previous finals – the French were spot-on with their tactics and execution.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Gicquel. “The start was super hard and we got through, and we never thought we’d get this far after the first round. It’s crazy, it was one of goals to win a big tournament this year. It’s a lot of hard work behind this, so we are grateful.”

Delrue had a standout day at the net, intercepting nearly everything that was thrown at her, while Gicquel varied his attack to keep the Thais constantly under pressure. Their vanquished opponents were all praise for them.

“We knew they would have a plan because they lost to us the last two times,” Puavaranukroh said. “They played fast; faster than us. I couldn’t fix that. They kept the shuttle down all the time.”

“We are so happy to put badminton a bit more popular with this win,” said Delrue. “I hope we will get more media and more players coming to play. I wanted to be the first to win a big tournament so that’s done.”

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