Christo Popov
| Christo Popov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 8 March 2002 Sofia, Bulgaria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Fos-sur-Mer, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Handedness | Left | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Men's singles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 167 wins, 47 losses | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | 77 (17 March 2020) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | 77 (17 March 2020) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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]
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
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8–21, 11–21 |  Silver
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European Junior Championships
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Kalev Sports Hall, Tallinn, Estonia |  Arnaud Merklé
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7–21, 14–21 | Silver
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BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Italian International |  Subhankar Dey
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21–16, 22–20 |  Winner
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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
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21–14, 21–10 | Winner
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| 2019 | Jakarta Junior International |  Syabda Perkasa Belawa
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14–21, 17–21 | Runner-up
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| 2019 | Hungarian Junior International |  Axel Henrik Parkhøi
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21–9, 18–21, 21–10 | Winner
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| 2018 | Spanish Junior International | Arnaud Merklé
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21–16, 9–21, 13–21 | Runner-up
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| 2018 | Hungarian Junior International | Arnaud Merklé
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21–18, 10–21, 21–7 | Winner
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| 2017 | Danish Junior Cup | Karl Thor Søndergaard
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21–16, 21–13 | Winner
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| 2017 | Romanian Junior International | Arnaud Merklé
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14–21, 10–21 | Runner-up
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| 2017 | Italian Junior International |  Julien Carraggi
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21–15, 21–11 | Winner
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| 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
- ^ a b c "Badminton Europe Magazine: Christo Popov". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Christo Popov numéro 1 mondial". www.ffbad.org (in French). 8 January 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Christo Popov". team-popov.com (in French). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ Phelan, Mark (1 March 2016). "Broad dispersal of medals in Kazan". badmintoneurope.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Badminton-Europe : Christo Popov en or en double, à Prague". www.laprovence.com (in French). 29 November 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ Raftery, Alan (25 November 2019). "Christo Popov: the hard work begins now". badmintoneurope.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ Lollike, Emma (17 August 2018). "Siblings succeed in Sofia". badmintoneurope.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Badminton : Christo Popov, l'as du volant". www.leparisien.fr (in French). 1 February 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ Sachetat, Raphaël (2 February 2020). "FRENCH NATIONALS – Popov enters history again". Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ Castela, Benoit (1 March 2020). "DUTCH JUNIOR 2020 : Christo Popov, numéro un mondial qui assume !" (in French). Retrieved 11 April 2020.
External links
- Christo Popov at BWF.tournamentsoftware.com
- Christo Popov at BWFbadminton.com
