Christo Popov

Christo Popov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He comes from a family featuring other professional badminton players. His father, Thomas, played for and coached the Bulgarian national team; his mother, Tzvetomira, was a national badminton referee; and his older brother, Toma Junior Popov, was a 2017 European Junior Champion.^[8]

Christo Popov started playing badminton at the age of 5.^[9] He won the European U15 and U17 Junior Champions in the boys' doubles event with Kenji Lovang in 2016 and 2017 respectively, also finished as boys' singles U15 runner-up in 2016.^[10][11] He later won the boys' singles silver medals at the 2018 European and 2019 World Junior Championships.^[5][12][13] He managed to win the 2017 Italian Junior International, Danish Junior Cup, also 2018 and 2019 Hungarian Junior International.

At the age of 16, he already won the senior international tournament at the 2018 Bulgarian Open in the men's doubles event with his brother Toma Junior Popov.^[14] Christo Popov topped the boys' singles World Junior Ranking on 7 January 2020.^[15] He won the men's singles in the 2020 French national championships and in doing so became the youngest ever winner of the competition^[16] At the 2020 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships he won the bronze medal with the French national team. In March 2020, he claimed his first BWF Junior International Grand Prix title by winning the Dutch Junior tournament.^[17] At the 2020 European Junior Championships in Lahti, Finland, Popov claimed three medals, winning a gold in the boys' singles, a silver in the team, and a bronze in the mixed doubles events.^[7]

In 2021, Popov opened the season by participating at the European Mixed Team Championships together with the French national team. The team finished as the finalist and won the silver medal.^[18] In May, he received the BEC Young Player of the Year and European Fan Player of the Yeat by the Badminton Europe.^[19] At the 2021 Spain Masters, he finished as a men's doubles semi-finalist, losing to the eventual winner, Indonesia's Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Rambitan.^[20]

In 2024, Christo won two BWF World Tour Super 300 titles, both achieved in Germany which are the German Open and the Hylo open. In the German Open, he defeated Danish Rasmus Gemke in two straight games to clinched his first ever World Tour title.^[21] Later in November, he defeated his own older brother Toma Junior Popov in the Hylo Open finals.^[22] The Popov brothers also competed for France at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the men's doubles event.^[23]

In 2025, Christo Popov reached a monumental milestone in his career by becoming the first French player to win the men's singles title at the BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China.^[24] Throughout the season, the 23-year-old showcased remarkable consistency, securing runner-up finishes at the Swiss Open and the French Open before his victory in December, where he defeated world No. 1 Shi Yuqi in straight games.^[24][25][26] Together with Toma, he also finished runner-up in the German Open.^[27] Additionally, he excelled on the continental stage by winning the gold medal in the men's doubles alongside his brother, Toma Junior Popov, and a bronze medal in the men's singles at the European Championships.^[1][28] These achievements propelled him to a career-high world ranking of No. 7 in the men's singles by late 2025, officially establishing him as France's top-ranked player.^[29]

In 2026, he began the season with a quarter-final berth at the India Open where he lost the match against Jonatan Christie.^[30] In February, Christo became a part of the first France team to win the European Men's Team Badminton Championship by defeating Denmark three games to two in the final.^[31] Christo also secured his first title of the year in March by defeating his brother, Toma at the German Open final.^[32] In April, Christo Popov won his first European Championships in men's singles when he defeated Anders Antonsen in the final in straight games.^[33] In the men's doubles, both him and his brother lost the final against the English pair, Ben Lane and Sean Vendy.^[34] Popov also made history with the French team, which reached the final of the Thomas Cup for the first time, and won the silver medal after being defeated by China.^[35] In July, Popov sealed a Japan Open title, beating the home favourite Koki Watanabe in straight games.^[36]