Christo Popov (born 8 March 2002) is a French
badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
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.
He reached a career high as boys' singles
World Junior number 1 in January 2020.
He then clinched the boys' singles title at the
2020 European Junior Championships.
Personal life
Christo Popov was born in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
, 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
Toma Junior Popov (born 29 September 1998) is a French badminton player. He won the bronze medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships in the boys' singles event. Popov made history as the first non-Danish male player to win a European Juni ...
, was a
2017 European Junior Champion.
Career
Christo Popov started playing badminton at the age of 5. 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. He later won the boys' singles silver medals at the
2018 European and
2019 World Junior Championships. He managed to win the 2017 Italian Junior International, Danish Junior Cup, also 2018 and 2019 Hungarian Junior International.
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
Toma Junior Popov (born 29 September 1998) is a French badminton player. He won the bronze medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships in the boys' singles event. Popov made history as the first non-Danish male player to win a European Juni ...
. Christo Popov topped the boys' singles
World Junior Ranking on 7 January 2020. He won the men's singles in the 2020
French national championships and in doing so became the youngest ever winner of the competition At the
2020 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships
The 2020 edition of the European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships was held in Liévin, France, from 11 to 16 February 2020. This tournament also serves as European qualification for the 2020 Thomas & Uber Cup.
Medalists
Tournament ...
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. 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.
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. In May, he received the BEC Young Player of the Year and European Fan Player of the Yeat by the Badminton Europe. At the
2021 Spain Masters, he finished as a men's doubles semi-finalist.
Achievements
BWF World Junior Championships
''Boys' singles''
European Junior Championships
''Boys' singles''
''Mixed doubles''
BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles, 2 runners-up)
''Men's singles''
''Men's doubles''
:
BWF International Challenge
The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.
...
tournament
:
BWF International Series
The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...
tournament
:
BWF Future Series
The BWF Future Series is a grade 3 and level 3 tournaments part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and International Series (level 2), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...
tournament
BWF Junior International (5 titles, 4 runners-up)
''Boys' singles''
: BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament
: BWF Junior International Challenge tournament
: BWF Junior International Series tournament
: BWF Junior Future Series tournament
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popov, Christo
2002 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Sofia
Bulgarian emigrants to France
French male badminton players