Orleans: Despite being an unseeded player, Toma Junior Popov of France managed to deliver as he held off pressure from Mads Christophersen of Denmark in the first set before dismantling his challenger 23-21, 21-13 in the Orleans Masters final on Sunday.
This was Popov’s second Super 100 victory and the first win in his home country, after previously won SaarLorLux Open on Nov 1, 2020, which was also a Super 100 tournament.
In women’s doubles, the No. 2 seeds Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria found no answers to No. 1 seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand, going down 16-21, 16-21 in 43 minutes.
“They played really well today. We will work on our weaknesses and get better next time,” said the Stoeva sisters.
The pairs were no strangers to each other as the Stoeva sisters just defeated the Thai pair in the semi-final of the 2021 Swiss Open on March 6, 2021.
In the women’s singles final, women’s singles No. 3 seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand had to dig deep before seeing off Line Christophersen of Denmark 16-21, 21-15, 21-19.
Meanwhile, England’s No. 4 seeds men’s doubles pair Ben Lane/Sean Vendy navigated through a tougher than planned final to beat unseeded Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala of India 19-21, 21-14, 21-19.
In an all-Dane mixed doubles final, No. 7 seeds Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje rallied past Niclas Nohr/Amalie Magelund 21-13, 21-17 for the title.
