Yonex French Open 2019: The joy of the fight

After an intense DANISA Denmark Open last week in Odense, the world’s best badminton players arrived in Paris to compete for the second-last BWF 750 tournament title and also gain points for the next year Olympic games qualification.

Florent Chayet, president of the French Badminton Association stated that the Yonex French Open is one of the eight best world tournaments within the HSBC BWF World Tour. He outlined the French touch of the tournament.

“The French crowd is well-known for the way players are welcomed.”

He also outlined the promising results of French players, especially Cristo Popov who was recently runner-up at the Junior World Championships. “It particularly impacts the badminton interest in France. The badminton engagement as well as the media coverage improves year after year in France”

Christine Raoult, Partnership Deputy Director at HSBC, confirmed the special relationship with the badminton. “We will continue to pursue the badminton development as it is a unique occasion to connect customers, employees and fans. It is a special experience of sharing and friendliness”

Yonex has been the title sponsor since 2009. Catherine Chouissa, as representative of Yonex in France explained one aspect of the strategy of Yonex in France. “We focus on badminton promotion, especially with the young players. All of the best young players are part of the Yonex team."

Nozomi Okuhara, Pusarla V. Sindhu, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue as well Brice Leverdez expressed their feelings regarding the tournament.

Asking the 24-year old Japanese player Nozomi Okuhara about the Olympic games qualification, the 2016 Olympic Games silver medalist responded : “I have been thinking about Tokyo since Rio. The pressure makes me stronger”

She then explained the increasing Japanese dominance of the badminton aera. “Thanks to our head coach Park Joo Bong, we now have strong players in the 5 categories. It creates stimulation among all the team."

As Pusarla V. Sindhu is one the toughest opponent for the Japanese, the transition was easy find. When asked if the Japanese might take here revenge in Paris, the Olympics silver medalist and recent world champion said: “It can be a revenge desire, but when you are on court, you want to win.”

She also explained the post-world championships period of time. “It was a much-awaited win after bronze, silver. I am now more confident and I hope this confidence will go further and I will do my best.”

She added how she perceives the French Open and why she never succeeded there. “Sometimes, it might not be your day. I wish I will get this tournament this year. It is a though draw. I will face my opponents one by one and I will definitely do my best.”

The French player Brice Leverdez who recently joined the main draw after a withdrawal mentioned that playing in Paris is for sure always enjoyable and how he sees his match against Lin Dan. "He is a legend. I am happy to face him as I never beat him. It will an outstanding match here in Paris in front the French crowd.” He added "in Paris, I never played very well. I put myself under a lot of pressure. This year I will more enjoy the fight with a non-top contender status.”

The 20-year old French players Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of the mixed double pair recently defeated the world ranked number 4 pair at the Danish Open. They explained that the ranking is important for the draw but they focus more on the Tokyo qualification. “Our recent win let us be more confident for the next tournaments”

“We enjoy our matches rather than being under the pressure. And we try to play our best badminton.” Regarding their upcoming match against the seeded number two pair, they added: “We said to ourselves it will a challenging match for us and we will try to get in the way of them.”

Discover the main draws here.

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