How France Became A Badminton Powerhouse At World Championships

France has made an unprecedented mark on the global badminton stage, securing two World Championships titles through its long-term national development programme, signalling a new era for the sport in the country.

France arrived at the World Championships with the ambition of making history. It left with two world champions, as Alex Lanier and mixed doubles pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue turned a breakthrough into a watershed moment for a badminton system that has been decades in the making.

Gicquel and Delrue became the first French pair to win a World Championships title in mixed doubles before Lanier followed by beating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka 21-11, 21-11 to become the first Frenchman to win the men’s singles crown.

France’s Historic Badminton Triumph

The enormity of the moment was not lost as French president Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue are world champions in mixed doubles badminton: a first for France! Bravo to our two champions!”

Moments later Lanier joined the duo as world champions.

“I think it’s definitely huge for France. We felt all the support from the fans, we also got all the support from all the staff behind,” the Lanier said after his victory.

“I didn’t feel that I won for me today, compared to the days before, or yesterday where I felt it was definitely for me. Today it was the day for France, and when the mixed won, everyone was happy, and I just thought that I needed to give them a double smile, double moments, and I needed to make history again.”

The French Badminton System’s Success

France coach Kestutis Navickas said Lanier’s triumph was the product of “trust, commitment and many years’ constructive work” involving the management and coaching teams.

“I’ve been working with Alex now almost five years and when I came, he was a 15-year-old kid. We went through together a lot. And I’m very happy for him, and I’m also happy for our work,” he said.

Navickas said the programme sought to synchronise the technical, tactical, physical and mental elements of Lanier’s game rather than over-emphasising one area.

“For me as a coach, the mental part, the way you approach a training process, the way you approach to the practice, the way you approach to the habits in the training, the way you polish the skills and how you implement that mentally, physically, tactically. I would say we just focus on four elements’ synchronization,” he said.

The scale of the French system is perhaps the clearest indication that the success is bigger than one player.

Future Ambitions For French Badminton

The country’s technical director Cyrille Gombrowicz said the development process dates back to the establishment of its first national centre in 1980, followed by two other national centres for young players, nine regional centres and partnerships with around 60 clubs.

There are now around 250,000 licensed badminton players in France, Navickas said, with the system also investing in coach education, performance data, training loads and match planning.

“The system started the job 20 years ago and now the fruits are coming of the system,” Navickas said, while Gombrowicz described it as a process that has been built “step by step” from the days when France was a weak badminton nation.

“Two titles the same day, it’s incredible!” he said. “Because at this moment, we are competitive only in two events: men’s singles and mixed doubles. And we try to work hard for other events also.”

France’s coaches are not presenting New Delhi as the destination, but as the first major proof that their model can compete with badminton’s traditional Asian powerhouses.

“China is a very strong country because they are present on all events. It’s not the case for France,” Gombrowicz said.

“For the French system, we need to put more players in the top 30, and a lot of different events, if we want to be a strong country in badminton. It’s the first step now, but we have another ambition. An ambition to go higher.”

Impact And Visibility For French Badminton

Lanier’s rise is one part of that broader story.

“At three years old I was not thinking about anything, I was just trying to enjoy on court. I was just trying to share the moments with my friends, with my family first,” he said.

“It became a little bit more serious actually when I met Christo. He’s also a little bit more professional than what I was in the past.”

The two world titles could now give the sport a visibility in France that it has never enjoyed before.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Lanier joked when asked what he hoped the gold medal would change back home.

“Probably I’m going to walk in the road and nobody cares!”

But he knows the responsibility that comes with the breakthrough.

“Badminton is gaining stronger and also more famous in France, so I believe more people are going to watch, more people are going to know badminton, and I think it’s going to be a little bit of a storm in France for a few days, few weeks,” he said.

“I think it’s also our role to make it bigger, make badminton bigger in France.”

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