New Delhi: French badminton history was written in pure gold as Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue clinched their first-ever BWF World Championships title, and their victory lap is already legendary.
The party kicked off the second they stepped into the mixed zone, where their coaching staff blindsided them with a pop of champagne. But that victory splash was just the opening act.
When IANS asked the French mixed doubles pair how they plan to truly celebrate the historic gold, Gicquel kept it unapologetically direct: ”We are gonna take the bottle and put it in our mouth. That’s the goal.”
Gicquel and Delrue outplayed top seeds Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping in a tactical masterclass in the mixed doubles final at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi on Sunday. It was Europe’s first gold in a paired event since 2009 – incidentally, also in India – when Denmark’s Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter-Juhl won the title.
The French completely took Huang out of the equation at the net, and even dared to flick-serve Feng from time to time. In fact, it was a flick serve on match point that finally delivered the historic moment for France.
“A lot of emotion, really, really happy and super proud to win the first gold for France,” said Delrue after the win. “It was an amazing match; both pairs played really well, and we had to try a lot for a win. It’s amazing to hear the national anthem on the podium for the first time.”
“We’re thinking, it’s amazing to be between two Chinese flags,” said Gicquel. “When you are 10 years old, you don’t really think that can happen, and it’s really hard to believe, actually. It’s really important for French badminton.”
Sharing the experience of playing in India, the French duo said, “I think it was very good this week. It was well-organised; also, (there were) a lot of people inside the hall to help. We saw a big difference compared to the India Open, where sometimes it’s tough.
“The air is difficult, so I hope the BWF will now try to make India host in the summer rather than in the winter, where it’s difficult to breathe and it’s really cold.”
(IANS)
