What could herald a brighter 2026 for France than a Frenchman topping the podium at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2025 – a contest featuring the best of the best over the season?

When he arrived at the season finale, Christo Popov was confident in his preparation and satisfied with his season – he had been in two finals and five semifinals. He was hopeful of the New Year bringing with it a major title.

The wish was to be fulfilled within a week as he took down, in succession, Anders Antonsen, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Jonatan Christie, Kodai Naraoka, and finally, world champion Shi Yu Qi.

The match that defined his campaign came at the beginning, when with Antonsen closing in from seven match points down, Popov had a nasty fall and hurt his left leg. Wincing in pain, he somehow finished the match with Antonsen just a point away.

He would finish the week with an all-win record from five matches.

The impact of his title run reverberated across the badminton world – for this meant the biggest prizes were now within reach of the French. Yet, when he limped off as winner in the opening match, the prospect of an unbeaten run to the title would have seemed far away. But that’s exactly what unfolded as Popov showed courage – and great endurance – with his first three matches lasting over 70 minutes each.

This, then, is the story of Popov’s epic journey over the week – in his own words:

On the Eve of the Tournament

His biggest learning through the season?

Accepting that I cannot play my best in the first round, and just play whatever I can at the moment.

The toughest rounds are the first and the second, because you’re not yet adapted well to the hall, or just not playing your best, so you need to use your grit and fight it out with whatever you have, and once you push through the second and third round, then you’re getting to play better, and then it’s mostly tactics. But the first rounds are a big struggle and I’m happy to manage them better now.

Match 1: Bt Anders Antonsen 21-13 12-21 21-19 (78m)

On the injury scare late in the match:

I’m very sore. I feel pain, but I have no idea what happened. I’ll sleep and stretch my Achilles and my hamstrings; I hope I’ll be fine.

It was a pretty tough first one on the group stage and many more to come now, in the group stage, very tough opponents, and of course, I’m happy to have a really nice start. I made it tough for myself in closing the match after leading and having a big gap and so many match points. Maybe I wouldn’t have slept if I hadn’t finished it. So yeah, it’s only shame on me.

Match 2: Bt Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-11 18-21 21-10 (74m)

To be honest, this morning, it (leg) wasn’t so well. I had to go for training, and we chose not to go. I had pain and it was tough to walk, but with painkillers and some physio… the physio helped me a lot, he strapped the ankle and once it’s warm and with painkillers it’s okay. Of course, I’m not happy to play that way but there’s no way I’m going to retire from a tournament.

So yeah, we’re just gonna push as long as we can, and I’m happy to also win it that way. I played a better game, maybe with some less pressure due to the injury, so maybe that helped us out to be in a more relaxing mood.

Match 3: Bt Jonatan Christie 18-21 21-16 21-13 (72m)

First French men’s singles player to make the semifinals:

It means a lot, of course. I’m sure in France, they’re really looking forward to watch me play again tomorrow. If I had not qualified, and my brother was playing, or Alex (Lanier) was playing, I would be pretty proud of them. It’s good for France to do these results, and it’s showing we are growing as a (badminton) culture as well, and not just as individuals. It’s good also for France in having more media and stuff, and for us to also have this role as ambassadors.

I’m pretty happy to win every match in my group. When I was looking at the group stage, I was like, ‘Okay, that’s a pretty tough one’. But anyway, every group is tough at the World Tour Finals. I’m very happy to get out first in the group and win every match. They were tough battles every day.

Semifinals: Bt Kodai Naraoka 21-19 21-8 (50m)

Waking up this morning I was feeling very tired. I was getting ready for a long match with Kodai, knowing his rally style. The first game was very important; being very long and winning that made me confident for the second game, and I got more aggressive. He made more mistakes and I got a huge gap at the beginning.

I’ve played some good matches and I know I have the level to beat them. Now I can beat them in a row, which means I’m improving.

Just to participate here was a new thing, so everyday is a new day for me. I’m happy to be healthy, almost pain free, which is good. It’s just positive now.

Final: Bt Shi Yu Qi 21-19 21-9 (45m)

I feel amazing, unbelievable. Coming into this week without many good matches and finishing with a win is crazy for me, and I’m so happy with every effort we made. It’s a big achievement for me, for the team and for France.

It’s massive, and the World Tour Finals is incredible to qualify, and to go on and win – it’s an incredibly tough tournament, being the last one of the year with every player being very tired, because of the very busy year… so it means a lot to me. The effort was very high.

The shuttles were really slow today and we had some really long rallies. I began to see it when he began to get tired and not pushing so much, and then I could feel he has some pain somewhere. I also tried to stay focussed and stay present and not think about it.

Being unbeaten also has more value. Every match was tough. I’m happy that I didn’t stop at any moment, am so happy about the effort and the energy I put on court.