Christo Popov

Christo Popov (born 8 March 2002) is a French badminton player from Fos club. He was the boys' doubles European U15 and U17 Junior Champions, also won the boys' singles silver medals at the 2018 European and 2019 World Junior Championships.[1] He reached a career high as boys' singles World Junior number 1 in January 2020.[2]

Christo Popov
Personal information
CountryFrance
Born (2002-03-08) 8 March 2002
Sofia, Bulgaria
ResidenceFos-sur-Mer, France
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
HandednessLeft
Men's singles
Career record167 wins, 47 losses
Highest ranking77 (17 March 2020)
Current ranking77 (17 March 2020)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  France
European Team Championships
2020 Liévin Men's team
World Junior Championships
2019 Kazan Boys' singles
European Junior Championships
2018 Tallinn Boys' singles
BWF profile

Personal life

Christo Popov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He comes from a family featuring other professional badminton players. His father, Thomas, played for and coached the Bulgarian national team; his mother, Tzvetonira, was a national badminton referee; and his older brother, Toma Junior Popov, was a 2017 European Junior Champion.[1]

Career

Christo Popov started playing badminton at the age of 5.[3] He won the European U15 and U17 Junior Champions in the boys' doubles event with Kenji Lovang in 2016 and 2017 respectively, also finished as boys' singles U15 runner-up in 2016.[4][5] He later won the boys' singles silver medals at the 2018 European and 2019 World Junior Championships.[6] He managed to win the 2017 Italian Junior International, Danish Junior Cup, also 2018 and 2019 Hungarian Junior International.[1]

At the age of 16, he already won the senior international tournament at the 2018 Bulgarian Open in the men's doubles event with his brother Toma Junior Popov.[7] Christo Popov topped the boys' singles World Junior Ranking in 7 January 2020.[8] He won the men's singles in the 2020 French national championships and in doing so became the youngest ever winner of the competition [9] At the 2020 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships he won the bronze medal with the French national team. In March 2020, he claimed his first BWF Junior International Grand Prix title by winning the Dutch Junior tournament.[10]

Achievements

BWF World Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2019 Kazan Gymnastics Center, Kazan, Russia Kunlavut Vitidsarn 8–21, 11–21 Silver

European Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2018 Kalev Sports Hall, Tallinn, Estonia Arnaud Merklé 7–21, 14–21 Silver

BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2019 Italian International Subhankar Dey 21–16, 22–20 Winner

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2019 Italian International Toma Junior Popov Bjarne Geiss
Jan Colin Völker		 18–21, 16–21 Runner-up
2018 Bulgarian Open Toma Junior Popov Chen Yu-jun
Lin Bing-wei		 17–21, 21–7, 21–17 Champion
     BWF International Challenge tournament
     BWF International Series tournament
     BWF Future Series tournament

BWF Junior International (5 titles, 4 runners-up)

Boys' singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2020 Dutch Junior International Jin Yong 21–14, 21–10 Winner
2019 Jakarta Junior International Syabda Perkasa Belawa 14–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2019 Hungarian Junior International Axel Henrik Parkhøi 21–9, 18–21, 21–10 Winner
2018 Spanish Junior International Arnaud Merklé 21–16, 9–21, 13–21 Runner-up
2018 Hungarian Junior International Arnaud Merklé 21–18, 10–21, 21–7 Winner
2017 Danish Junior Cup Karl Thor Søndergaard 21–16, 21–13 Winner
2017 Romanian Junior International Arnaud Merklé 14–21, 10–21 Runner-up
2017 Italian Junior International Julien Carraggi 21–15, 21–11 Winner
2017 Hungarian Junior International Ondřej Král 10–12, 11–6, 11–4, 11–13, 10–12 Runner-up
     BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament
     BWF Junior International Challenge tournament
     BWF Junior International Series tournament
     BWF Junior Future Series tournament

References
  1. "Badminton Europe Magazine: Christo Popov". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  2. "Christo Popov numéro 1 mondial". www.ffbad.org (in French). 8 January 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  3. "Christo Popov". team-popov.com (in French). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  4. Phelan, Mark (1 March 2016). "Broad dispersal of medals in Kazan". badmintoneurope.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  5. "Badminton-Europe : Christo Popov en or en double, à Prague". www.laprovence.com (in French). 29 November 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  6. Raftery, Alan (25 November 2019). "Christo Popov: the hard work begins now". badmintoneurope.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  7. Lollike, Emma (17 August 2018). "Siblings succeed in Sofia". badmintoneurope.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  8. "Badminton : Christo Popov, l'as du volant". www.leparisien.fr (in French). 1 February 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  9. Sachetat, Raphaël (2 February 2020). "FRENCH NATIONALS – Popov enters history again". Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  10. Castela, Benoit (1 March 2020). "DUTCH JUNIOR 2020 : Christo Popov, numéro un mondial qui assume !" (in French). Retrieved 11 April 2020.
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