A feat for the bad French !
This Wednesday, July 31, Toma Junior Popov qualified for the round of 16 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In his last group match, the French dominated the Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting9th in the world (and former 2nd).
On an extraordinary last point won at the net, the eldest of the Popov brothers ended up winning in three sets (21-19, 17-21, 21-15).
“I was confident in my game and my strengths and I tried to do my best today,” he confided to the microphone ofOlympics.com.
“Winning the first set was very important. The support of the public too, especially at the end of the 2nd, I was not far from coming back, I did not let go of this set easily. It pushed him to fight, he must have drawn a lot of energy to win this set. And in the third, the public also made the difference. The match point was incredible. There were a lot of emotions. »
During his first group match, the Frenchman had already won, against the American Howard Shu (21-11 / 21-12). He therefore finished first in his group H and will play in the round of 16, which has not happened to a Frenchman since Beijing 2008.
European vice-champion, Popov was acclaimed by the public in a crazy atmosphere at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle. His round of 16 is likely to be hot!
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