The Countdown Begins!

The Countdown Begins!

In two months’ time, the Adidas Arena will unveil the 29^th edition of the BWF World Championships – a year after it hosted the badminton competition at the Paris Olympic Games.

Paris has hosted the World Championships before – its 18^th edition in 2010. Yet, this time is different, for the host country has rapidly evolved as a badminton nation. Not only has there been an explosion of interest in recent years, France now has world-beating players, and for the first time, can boast of medal contenders in various categories.

There are, for instance, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, winners of France’s first ever HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000 title, a feat they accomplished recently in Indonesia. Then there are world No.8 Alex Lanier, European champion and Japan Open winner, and Popov brothers Christo and Toma Junior, who are contenders in both singles and doubles. France has never had it so good.

Apart from these players, France have other competitors in the draw: Leonice Huet, Anna Tatranova in women’s singles; Eloi Adam/Leo Rossi (men’s doubles); Tea Margueritte/Flavie Vallet, Margot Lambert/Camille Pognante (women’s doubles) and Julien Maio/Lea Palermo (mixed doubles).

With just a year having passed since the Olympics, France still retains the fervour of Paris 2024 – and given that many of the contestants are the same, and competing in the same arena, there will be nostalgia and a re-living of the sensation that was the Olympics.

For those who watched the spectacle at Paris 2024, the World Championships will be an opportunity to experience the brilliance of several of those who excelled on the Olympic stage. An Se Young, for instance, has gone on from strength to strength since her debut Olympic gold; over the past 12 months she has won seven out of 10 events she competed in, and will be favourite for her second World Championships gold.

Defending champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who made the final at Paris 2024, has had a brilliant Asian season, winning three titles in a row. The Thai has pleasant memories from the Olympics, having won silver, and will seek to ascend the podium this time. Viktor Axelsen, who beat him for the gold, is returning from a back surgery, and there will be plenty of interest in his campaign.

While there have been prominent retirements over the past year – Olympic champions Lee Yang, Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong, and silver medallist He Bing Jiao, for instance – there is no dearth of luminaries. Over the past few months, every category has been keenly fought, and as Paris 2025 approaches, it’s evident that no single player or pair – apart from possibly An Se Young – is an overwhelming favourite for gold.

Yet, two months is a reasonable window for dramatic changes to unfold in terms of form and performance. There are five World Tour events in this period – the YONEX US Open, YONEX Canada Open, DAIHATSU Japan Open, VICTOR China Open and the SANDS CHINA Ltd Macau Open – which will give players the opportunity to fine-tune their match preparations.

Stay tuned to follow the fortunes of the competitors as the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2025 draws close!

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