India Open in New Delhi (Super 750)

Their one and only confrontation, in Paris last October (21-17 win, 24-22) Imagine that Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue (N.5 in the world) won’t have an easy part, this Tuesday morning, against Hong Kong’s Lee and Ng (N.24). And indeed, the first round of this Indian Open (the Super 750 is endowed with 900,000 dollars) has been tricky for the French.

Led from start to finish in the first set (2-4, 2-9, 8-11), they were beaten by the former world junior champion and partner (15-21 in 18′).

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But their coach, Mihail Popov, found the right words to lead them into the game (8-2, 11-5). Sharper, livelier on the shuttlecock and more precise, Gicquel and Delrue (24) took the lead, leaving the Asian pair to lose hope in this half (21-13 in 20′).

The halfway then went against the experienced Ng, the 2014 Olympic youth champion, and his partner. But still concluded during the third round of a very high level. Long rallies, really flirting with net tape and lines: tensions reached their peak in the noisy Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. After narrowly leading (11-9, 15-12), Red Star Mulhouse and Chambly saw the Hong Kong duo add to the score (15-15, 17-17) in money time. The moment Gicquel and Delrue chose for their status as “the top couple in the world” (20-17). On Ng’s too-short last serve, the 2022 European co-champions pivoted in the last 16 (15-21, 21-13, 21-18 in 1hr 05′), where they will face the winner of the Jansen/Efler match (ALL/N.25) – Chang/Lee (TAP/N.44). Before the possible quarter-final against their pets, world number 1 Zheng and Huang…