Christo Popov

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Christo Popov (born 8 March 2002) is a French badminton player representing the Fos club. A versatile talent, he has achieved major success in both singles and doubles disciplines. His most notable victory came at the 2025 European Championships, where he and his brother, Toma Junior Popov, secured the men’s doubles gold medal. Earlier, he demonstrated his all-around skill by winning a silver in men’s singles and a bronze in men’s doubles at the 2023 European Games. In 2024, he made history by becoming the first French player to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious All England Open.

Popov’s prowess was evident from his junior career, where he excelled as a doubles and singles specialist. He is a former boys’ doubles European champion at both the U15 and U17 levels. In singles, he claimed silver medals at the 2018 European Junior Championships and the 2019 World Junior Championships, ultimately rising to the World Junior No. 1 ranking in January 2020. He capped his junior career by winning the boys’ singles title at the 2020 European Junior Championships.

In 2025, Christo Popov claimed the men’s singles title at the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals by defeating the home favorite and defending world champion, Shi Yuqi, in straight sets. This victory marks Popov as the first French player to win the season-ending tournament and stands as the biggest title of his career to date.

1. Major Achievements

(Includes European Games, European Championships)

YearTournamentCategoryOpponent / PartnerScoreResult
2025European ChampionshipsMen’s DoublesToma Junior Popov21–12, 18–21, 21–18🥇 Gold
2025European ChampionshipsMen’s SinglesAlex Lanier (FRA)Semi-final🥉 Bronze
2023European GamesMen’s SinglesViktor Axelsen (DEN)21–16, 16–21, 11–21🥈 Silver
2023European GamesMen’s DoublesToma Junior PopovSemi-final🥉 Bronze

2. BWF World Tour

(Finals appearances)

Men’s Singles

YearTournamentLevelOpponentScoreResult
2024German OpenSuper 300Rasmus Gemke21–17, 21–16🥇 Winner
2024Hylo OpenSuper 300Toma Junior Popov21–13, 21–10🥇 Winner
2025Swiss OpenSuper 300Weng Hongyang18–21, 3–21🥈 Runner-up
2025French OpenSuper 750Anders Antonsen12–21, 19–21🥈 Runner-up
2025BWF World Tour FinalsWorld Tour FinalsShi Yuqi21-19, 21-9🥇 Winner

Men’s Doubles

YearTournamentLevelPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2025German OpenSuper 300Toma Junior PopovKim Won-ho
Seo Seung-jae		19–21, 17–21🥈 Runner-up

3. Junior Achievements

(World Junior Championships, European Junior Championships)

YearTournamentCategoryOpponentScoreResult
2019World Junior ChampionshipsBoys’ SinglesKunlavut Vitidsarn8–21, 11–21🥈 Silver
2020European Junior ChampionshipsBoys’ SinglesYanis Gaudin21–9, 21–18🥇 Gold
2018European Junior ChampionshipsBoys’ SinglesArnaud Merklé7–21, 14–21🥈 Silver