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One of France’s biggest-ever moments came with Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France claiming the KAPAL API Indonesia Open 2025 with an imperious performance over Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand
History came in somewhat anti-climactic fashion. On match point
Gicquel played to the sideline, Puavaranukroh let it fall and then
raised his hand to challenge the ‘in’ call, before realising that the
Thais had no challenge left. Gicquel wrapped Delrue in a bear hug as
they celebrated France’s first Super 1000 title, their biggest
achievement in a paired event.
It was a scene far removed from their minds when they’d started their
campaign, for they were nearly bundled out in the opening round by home
pair Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja. They only got
stronger from there, and against Puavaranukroh/Paewsampran – who had won
their five previous finals – the French were spot-on with their tactics
and execution.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Gicquel. “The start was super hard and
we got through, and we never thought we’d get this far after the first
round. It’s crazy, it was one of goals to win a big tournament this
year. It’s a lot of hard work behind this, so we’re grateful.”
Delrue had a standout day at the net, intercepting nearly everything
that was thrown at her, while Gicquel varied his attack to keep the
Thais constantly under pressure. Their vanquished opponents were all
praise for them.
“We knew they would have a plan because they lost to us the last two
times,” Puavaranukroh said. “They played fast; faster than us. I
couldn’t fix that. They kept the shuttle down all the time.”
“We are so happy to put badminton a bit more popular with this win,”
said Delrue. “I hope we’ll get more media and more players coming to
play. I wanted to be the first to win a big tournament so that’s done.”
Information from BWF News
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