Popov will contest the BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024, his first major since the 2022 Orleans Masters after a three-game win over third seed Chou Tien Chen. Thailand’s Ratchanok Inthanon and Supanida Kathethong will play for the women’s title, live on Olympics.com.
Toma Jr. Popov reached the final of the BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024 on Saturday (March 30) after defeating third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
The Frenchman’s last final was at the Orleans Masters in April 2022 where he defeated India’s Mithun Manjunath in two games. He will now face Singapore’s 2021 world badminton champion Loh Ken Yu on Sunday in the Spanish capital.
“It’s important because it’s my first final for two years so it means a lot to me and I enjoy it,” Popov told Olympic.com in 73 minutes to beat Chou 21-15, 20-22, 21-18.
BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024:
BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024 was Popov’s longest match of the week and came after he trailed for most of the first game before winning eight of the last nine points to take it.
Chow took a terrific second game, but visibly tired in the third as Popov won.
“He forced me to put pressure on the net so it was hard to get chances,” said Chow, who told Olympic.com on Friday that he was still looking for his best form after undergoing surgery for early-stage cancer last year. “I tried to control him, but the shuttle is really fast. It’s hard to control so it was really hard to play with him today.”
At 20-20 in the second game, Chou produced a smash that was recorded at 399 km/h and then won the next point to draw level.
Popov became increasingly agitated during the decision, but came through despite receiving a yellow card for a challenge on the shuttle.
He admitted, “It’s a very emotional game because it’s really difficult to play against such an opponent who is really good in this area.
“Sometimes I made some simple errors, took some shots that were out for me. That’s why I was quite nervous. I stopped a lot of shots in the net, but luckily in the second part of the game I got two [points. ahead].”
Reaching the Swiss Open final last week, it was another tough tournament showing from Chou who underwent cancer surgery early last year.
And the 34-year-old is even more optimistic about his chances of competing at a third Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
“To be back at this layer in badminton, I’m really glad with the fitness, physical and psychological as like,” Chou said. “I play with technique, technique. My physio Victoria helped me recover so I think she did a really good job.”
Iron reached the final despite falling in the second game
Loh Qin Yue also needed three games to book a ticket to the final, beating Chinese Taipei’s Wang Ju Wei 21-13, 8-21, 21-15.
After cruising through the first game, Loh was never in contention in the second as he suffered the biggest singles loss of the year.
But the Singaporeans regrouped and clashed with Popov.
Meanwhile, the women’s singles final will be an all-Thai affair as Ratchanok Intanon takes on Supanida Kathethong.
Katethong defied expectations at the tournament, defeating third seed Kim Ga Un of the Republic of Korea in the semi-finals to win her quarter-final against Indian star PV Sindhu. Intanon improved to the final after a rollercoaster win over Indonesia’s Komang Ayu Chahya Dewi.
The women’s final and all action from the day of the final in Madrid will be broadcast live on the Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Paris 2024 Olympic app (regional restrictions may apply).
BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024: How to watch live stream on TV and online
You can watch weekend action from BWF Madrid Spain Masters 2024 on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Paris 2024 Olympic app for mobile devices (regional restrictions may apply).
It will also be attainable on the BWF TV YouTube channel and diverse domestic television broadcasters: in Singapore, the games will be shown on SPOTV. Check local listings for details.
For Singaporean fans, Madrid is seven hours behind Singapore Standard Time (six hours on Sundays due to daylight saving time changes in European countries).
If you can’t find a screen to watch the matches, check out Olympics.com’s reports on the results and the best action from the event.