Third match and third victory in straight sets against a third Asian pair: the 2024 European mixed champions Thom Gicquel (Red Star Mulhouse) and Delphine Delrue (Chambly) continue their faultless run at the Japan Masters in Kumamoto. This Friday, even before dawn in France, they punched their ticket for the semi-finals of such a tough tournament (Super 500) for the first time in over a year.
An unprecedented duel against the Chinese Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui
Their previous epic dates back to their lost final in September 2023 at the China Open (Super 1000). If, in 2024, they played two Super 300 halves, at the Spanish Masters at the end of March in Madrid, then at the beginning of November at the Hylo Open in Saarbrücken, they have not played for the World Tour title since their trip to Changzhou.
This is therefore the challenge that the selected Olympic doubles, 22es world championships, will try to recover this Saturday at a time when France will still be sleeping – around 4 a.m. – against the Chinese Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui, 17eswinners last week of the Korea Masters (Super 300) after having already won this year the Thailand Opens (Super 500) in May and the Macau Opens (Super 300) at the end of September. The two duos have never faced each other.
A clear victory despite a scare at the end of the second round
On Friday, the five-time French champions got rid of the Thais Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat, 31, in another unprecedented duel in the quarter-finals.es (21-14, 22-20). Despite the comeback from 16-19 to 19-19 in the second set of their opponents who then saved a match shuttlecock, the Tricolores concluded with the second.
France
