The misfortune of one person makes the happiness of others. Toma Junior Popov and his brother Christo had to beat the Danes Andreas Sondergaard and Jesper Toft this Thursday in order to qualify for the doubles at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But they failed (21-13, 21-8) and were eliminated as soon as the round of 16 of the Euro in Saarbrücken. This allows the Ronan Labar-Lucas Corvée pair to secure their place at the Olympics.
Christo Popov confided his disappointment to the daily L'Équipe: “It's a shame to end with a non-match on our part. We tried everything, we varied to try to achieve success, but the Danes were very good in the first three shots. There is a lot of disappointment, but the Olympic qualification will have been marked by good and bad phases. »
Corvée and Labar take advantage of it
The Popov brothers dreamed of participating in the Olympics together. France only benefits from a quota in the singles, so only one of the two brothers will be able to compete in Paris this summer. The youngest, Christo (22 years old) is currently ahead of his elder in the rankings. But Toma Junior (25 years old) is still competing in singles at the Euro and could overtake his brother if he reaches the final.
Lucas Corvée and Ronan Labar were under pressure since they were eliminated in the first round of the doubles at the European Championships in Saarbrücken. They were therefore counting on a defeat for the Popov siblings to validate their ticket for the Olympic Games.