Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue kept themselves in the hunt for a semifinal place with a takedown of top seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran, making it a profitable day for France after Christo Popov had won his second straight match.

The French duo had fallen in an exciting first match in Group A to Feng Yang Zhe/Huang Dong Ping on the opening day, but kept a high level against the Thais. In a match that buzzed with pace and intensity all the way, Gicquel and Delrue prevailed 14-21 21-14 21-18.

“We followed the plan more than in first game,” said Delrue. “In the first game, it was hard to play really short and under the net, and we talked about that, and after that we fight a lot to do that and it was working.”

“We were a bit stressed and we were scared that we finish like yesterday, where we had the lead and we lost the match,” added Gicquel. “So we were just thinking about doing the right stuff and believing that we can win.”

The French pair’s physicality has been impressive in both matches despite this being the end of the season. Gicquel acknowledged that the focus now had shifted to more physical preparation, compared to technical.

“When we came back from Japan, we said that we need to be focused on that so it was less badminton and more physical,” said Gicquel. “I think it worked well because we are playing quite well. And for our game style, it’s important to be good physically. Also we end the season now, but there is the next season that started in two weeks. So we needed to have a few weeks of physical.”

Highlights:

» Christo Popov continued his fine run this week, as he beat top seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-11 18-21 21-10.

» It was also a second straight win for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty as they overcame Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri 21-11 16-21 21-11.

» Veteran Chou Tien Chen pushed world champion Shi Yu Qi all the way in a 75-minute contest, before going down 21-11 19-21 21-15.

→Results (Day 2)