France reaches first world badminton final as Delrue and Gicquel advance in India

Mixed doubles semi-final victory

Delphine Delrue and Thom Gicquel became the first French players to qualify for a World Badminton Championships final in an individual event on 22 August 2026. The world number 5 mixed doubles pair defeated China's Jiang Zheng Bang and Wei Ya Xin, ranked second globally, in three games with a score of 19-21, 21-13, 21-11 in New Delhi. Gicquel, who is based in Rennes, expressed satisfaction with the result following their bronze medal finish at the 2025 championships in Paris.

It is crazy! We are super happy! We wanted more after the bronze last year. We knew we were capable of it.

Progression through the tournament bracket

The mixed doubles pair reached the semi-finals on Friday, 21 August 2026, without playing their scheduled quarter-final. Their opponents, Thai players Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran, withdrew from the match due to a forfeit. That walkover guaranteed Delrue and Gicquel at least a bronze medal, matching their podium result from the 2025 tournament in Paris, where they had won the first doubles medal in French badminton history. Delrue posted a statement on social media regarding the quarter-final outcome.

Inevitably, this is not the way we wanted to reach the final four of the competition. But here we are and the bronze medal is ours. Tomorrow we will face a Chinese pair to aim even higher than last year.

Men's singles quarter-final

In the men's singles draw, 21-year-old Alex Lanier of Caen secured a semi-final berth on 21 August 2026 by defeating Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Vitidsarn entered the tournament as the world number 2, the reigning Olympic silver medallist, and the 2023 world champion. The victory guaranteed Lanier at least a bronze medal, making him the first French player to secure a men's singles medal at the World Championships. Lanier, who won a Super 750 tournament in 2024 and European titles in 2025 and 2026 with the French national team, recovered after trailing 11-4 in the second game. Source articles report the three-game score as either 21-19, 16-21, 21-19 or 19-21, 21-16, 21-16.

I was not playing, I was afraid of lobbing, I was afraid of playing the rally, I was afraid of being strong, yet that is one of my qualities when I feel good. I raised my level of play, if I had to go out, it had to be with no regrets. I need to recover, I want to perform, to keep playing. I am happy with myself.

Lanier advances to play Canadian competitor Victor Lai in the semi-finals over the weekend.

French team campaign in New Delhi

The French delegation opened the tournament in India under national technical director Cyrille Gombrowicz of the French Badminton Federation, who noted that the squad entered with an attacking approach. France experienced initial setbacks in the early rounds of the competition. Christo Popov, ranked fifth in the world and regarded as a primary medal contender, was eliminated in the first round of the men's singles tournament. His brother and doubles partner was also eliminated early, as the Popov brothers exited the men's doubles bracket before France secured medals in the singles and mixed doubles events.