The French men have just secured a place in the quarterfinals of this year’s Thomas Cup. In itself, that’s an impressive achievement for the European Men’s Team Champions, but what makes it even more remarkable is that they have just defeated Indonesia 4–1.

Before today’s match, the French team needed to win at least four matches to secure a spot in the quarterfinals, and tonight, they did exactly that in just four matches.

Christo Popov started things off by defeating Jonatan Christie 21–19, 21–14.

Next, Alex Lanier beat Alwi Farhan 21–16, 21–19.

In the third singles match, big brother Toma Popov survived a match point against him in the third set and instead claimed victory 22–20.

On paper, the three singles matches were very close, with France perhaps holding a slight edge. However, the doubles are traditionally where Indonesia is incredibly strong, and on paper, clear favorites against the French pairs.

Since Christo and Toma Popov needed rest after their singles matches, it was the second men’s doubles that took the court first. Here, world number 56 Eloi Adam and Leo Rossi faced the world number 9. But it didn’t show— the French duo handled the pressure best. After a too short serve from the Indonesians at 19–20 in the second set, the French players could finally let their emotions run free, and the whole team celebrated together.

If you didn’t catch the scenes on TV, I recommend checking out our Facebook or Instagram pages to see those unforgettable moments.

It is not yet known who the French team will face in the quarterfinals, as the final group matches of the Thomas Cup will be played tomorrow.

Among those in action is Denmark, who need at least one win when they take on Chinese Taipei tomorrow evening at 18:00.