New Delhi, Aug 17 — France's Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov were unable to produce their best in the men's doubles at the 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi on Monday, falling to Japan's Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami after a demanding turnaround left Toma with little time to recover between his singles and doubles commitments.
The Popovs had to switch rapidly from one event to another, and Toma admitted the compressed schedule had left him short of the recovery he needed before stepping onto the court for the doubles contest.
“It was really tough to recover. I didn't feel good when I went on the court directly. I have no idea why the referee put me into such a tight schedule. Maybe you should ask them why, because I don't think it was so fair. We have to adapt, and that's it. I did my best, so I tried to do the best recovery I could,” Toma said.
"I tried to eat properly as fast as possible and come back for the men's double and be ready. Even if I was not 100% today in the men's double. I think I gave my best, and Christo also did his best, so that's the most important," he added.
The French pair, however, did not use the schedule as an excuse for the result. For Toma, the decisive moments came in the exchanges immediately after the serve and return, with Japan gaining the upper hand in the crucial middle phase of rallies. “Serve, return and half-court, third shot. I think. And especially with proactive defence,” Toma said when asked where the match had slipped away.
Both are competing across singles and doubles in New Delhi, a demanding combination that inevitably raises questions about whether having another event to fall back on can ease the pressure of an early defeat.
Toma rejected that idea.
“Maybe it gives you a little bit less pressure, but I think we are professionals. When we go on court, we go for the win, and we don't go because we have a suffering on back-up. We go all-in, and it's 100% as what we got on the day,” he said.
Christo echoed that approach, arguing that playing two events does not change the mindset with which they enter either match.
“I think every match is very independent. Every match we prepare differently. We don't go easy on him, I don't think so. If we play, as he said, we are professionals. If we play both categories, it means we accept that sometimes we are not 100% physically,” Christo said.
For Christo, though, his brother's physical state was not the central problem once the match began. He felt the Japanese pair simply demanded a level of performance that France could not produce on the day.
“I think he was fine today physically; it was just about the game. The first match against the Japanese was maybe also a pretty tough first round to get into the tournament. I think we needed to play our best today to beat them. We didn't, so that's part of the game,” Christo said.
The playing conditions added another variable to the Popovs' experience in New Delhi. With different courts offering different characteristics, Christo said his familiarity with Monday's court could still prove useful if he returns to it later in the tournament.
“Today, definitely. I have no idea tomorrow which court I'm going to play because conditions are very different between the courts. Let's say I have some experience today from the court. Maybe not the best, but I can take what's positive from it. I could feel that at the end of the match, I was feeling more in my shots, which is probably something positive. I'll try better tomorrow,” Christo said.