2 min readMay 2, 2026 07:48 AM IST
France defeated Japan 3-0 to make a historic march into the semifinals of the Thomas Cup where they will play India on Saturday night 9.30 pm IST.
After India blanked Chinese Taipei 3-0, France proceeded to similarly drub Japan 3-0, on the back of three straight singles wins.
Last year’s World Tour Finals champion and World No 4 Christo Popov defeated No 9 Kodai Naraoka, 21-17, 21-17. While Alex Lanier breezes past Yushi Tanaka, 21-15, 21-17.
In the third singles, Toma Jr Popov, older brother of Christo, won the battle of Top 20s, with Toma at No 17 and Koki Watanabe at No 20. Watanabe offered some resistance before losing 21-19, 23-21.
The French are on a high and had threatened to make it 2/4 European teams in Thomas Cup, alongside Denmark who led Thailand 2-0.
China and India have qualified for the semis already.
The quirk with playing France is, all their three singles necessarily play first three rubbers, because Toma Jr and Christo are also France’s first doubles pair. However with Toma lining up in third singles and a mandatory one match gap necessary, the French second pair, Eloi Adam and Leo Rossi play the fourth match.
Lakshya Sen leads Christo Popov 6-2 in head to head, though they have only played twice in last 5 years. Sen won the last meeting at Hylo Open.
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World No 10 Alex Lanier is another tough opponent for Ayush Shetty, an old nemesis from juniors, though they have never played in seniors.
Earlier, India swept past Chinese Taipei 3-0 after Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and men’s duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won their respective games, assuring India of at least a bronze medal.
Lakshya gave India the early lead after he won 18-21, 22-20, 21-17 against World No. 6 Chou Tien Chen in a battle which lasted an hour and 28 minutes.
Satwiksairaj-Chirag delivered a high-octane match against Wang Chi Lin and Chiu Hsiang Cheh to win, 23-21, 19-21, 21-12 before Ayush Shetty finished the job with a 21-16, 21-17 victory over World No. 8 and All England Open winner Lin Chun-yi in 48 minutes.
