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Christo Popov (born 8 March 2002) is a French badminton player who affiliate with 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] He then clinched the boys' singles title at the 2020 European Junior Championships. In 2024, he became the first Frenchman to reach the semi-finals of the All England Open.
| Christo Popov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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 & doubles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | 20 (MS, 2 April 2024) 20 (MD with Toma Junior Popov, 11 October 2022) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | 26 (MS) 39 (MD with Toma Junior Popov) (16 July 2024) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| BWF profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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, Tzvetomira, was a national badminton referee; and his older brother, Toma Junior Popov, was a 2017 European Junior Champion.[1]
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 on 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] At the 2020 European Junior Championships in Lahti, Finland, Popov claimed three medals, winning a gold in the boys' singles, a silver in the team, and a bronze in the mixed doubles events.[11]
In 2021, Popov opened the season by participating at the European Mixed Team Championships together with the French national team. The team finished as the finalist and won the silver medal.[12] In May, he received the BEC Young Player of the Year and European Fan Player of the Yeat by the Badminton Europe.[13] At the 2021 Spain Masters, he finished as a men's doubles semi-finalist, losing to the eventual winner, Indonesia's Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Rambitan.[14]
In 2024, Christo won two Super 300 Titles, both achieved in Germany which are the German Open and the Hylo open. In the German Open, he defeated Danish Rasmus Gemke in two straight sets. Later in November, he defeated his own older brother Toma Junior Popov in the Hylo Open finals.
European Games
Men's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Arena Jaskółka, Tarnów, Poland |  Viktor Axelsen |
21–16, 16–21, 11–21 |  Silver |
Men's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Arena Jaskółka, Tarnów, Poland |
 Toma Junior Popov |
 Ben Lane Sean Vendy |
15–21, 14–21 |  Bronze |
BWF World Junior Championships
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Kazan Gymnastics Center, Kazan, Russia |  Kunlavut Vitidsarn |
8–21, 11–21 | Silver |
European Junior Championships
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Kalev Sports Hall, Tallinn, Estonia |  Arnaud Merklé |
7–21, 14–21 | Silver |
| 2020 | Pajulahti Sports Institute, Lahti, Finland | Yanis Gaudin |
21–9, 21–18 |  Gold |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Pajulahti Sports Institute, Lahti, Finland |
Flavie Vallet |
 Gustav Bjorkler Edith Urell |
18–21, 21–13, 15–21 | Bronze |
BWF World Tour (2 titles)
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[15] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the BWF World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[16]
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | German Open | Super 300 | Rasmus Gemke |
21–17, 21–16 |  Winner |
| 2024 | Hylo Open | Super 300 | Toma Junior Popov |
21–13, 21–10 | Winner |
BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles, 2 runners-up)
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Italian International |  Subhankar Dey |
21–16, 22–20 | Winner |
| 2022 | Ukraine Open |  Ong Ken Yon |
21–14, 22–20 | Winner |
| 2022 | Nantes International | Mads Christophersen |
8–21, 21–11, 14–21 |  Runner-up |
| 2022 | Dutch Open | Mads Christophersen |
25–23, 21–10 | Winner |
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Bulgarian Open | Toma Junior Popov |
 Chen Yu-jun Lin Bing-wei |
17–21, 21–7, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2019 | Italian International | Toma Junior Popov |
 Bjarne Geiss Jan Colin Völker |
18–21, 16–21 | Runner-up |
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Hungarian Junior International |  Ondřej Král |
10–12, 11–6, 11–4, 11–13, 10–12 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Italian Junior International |  Julien Carraggi |
21–15, 21–11 | Winner |
| 2017 | Romanian Junior International | Arnaud Merklé |
14–21, 10–21 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Danish Junior Cup | Karl Thor Søndergaard |
21–16, 21–13 | Winner |
| 2018 | Hungarian Junior International | Arnaud Merklé |
21–18, 10–21, 21–7 | Winner |
| 2018 | Spanish Junior International | Arnaud Merklé |
21–16, 9–21, 13–21 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Hungarian Junior International | Axel Henrik Parkhøi |
21–9, 18–21, 21–10 | Winner |
| 2019 | Jakarta Junior International |  Syabda Perkasa Belawa |
14–21, 17–21 | Runner-up |
| 2020 | Dutch Junior International |  Jin Yong |
21–14, 21–10 | Winner |
- BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament
- BWF Junior International Challenge tournament
- BWF Junior International Series tournament
- BWF Junior Future Series tournament
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