Not since 2009, when Pi Hongyan won bronze, has a French badminton player claimed a medal at the World Championships. But yesterday, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue ended that long wait, securing a historic medal for France.

Today, the French pair were looking to go one step further and reach a World Championship final – something no French players have ever done before. Standing in their way were the world No. 4 pair Chen/Toh from Malaysia.

Gicquel and Delrue struck first with the opening point of the match, but it was the only time they would hold the lead in the opening game. Despite keeping it close and leveling the score several times, the French duo never managed to break away. Chen/Toh eventually sealed the first game 21–18. The second game followed a similar pattern, with the Malaysians racing to a 4–0 lead and maintaining a steady advantage of 2–5 points throughout.

After the match, Thom Gicquel pointed to the slow starts in each game as a key factor in their defeat. Unlike previous days at the championships, the French pair never really found momentum. Delrue explained:

“I think we didn’t adapt well to the wind today, we couldn’t play the style we wanted... But I think we still fought a lot, especially in the first set.”

Although disappointed to fall just short of the final, the pair were proud to have made history for French badminton.
Gicquel:

“For us it is a great achievement. I hope it will create even more energy in French badminton, and give hope to the children that play badminton – to show that it’s possible to beat the best in the world, and that it will make people play and love badminton.”

Delrue added:

“We are proud to achieve this result for France. We have a really young and talented group in France now, and I hope we can all perform well in the future to keep improving badminton in France.”

A huge congratulations to Thom Gicquel, Delphine Delrue, and the entire French federation on a milestone medal.