SquadxScore

“Success breeds success” is a well-established and proven concept in most walks of life and especially in sporting terms. Because being in a successful environment is inspirational, it creates momentum and instils belief. A concept illustrated by the incredible rise and success of Swedish men’s tennis in the 1980s. 5-time Wimbledon champion Björn Borg started the chain of success. Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg followed as Grand Slam winners and world number 1s, and between the 2 of them, they won all 4 Grand Slam titles in 1988. There was a similar situation with Danish #badminton in the late 1990s. In 1997, three different men’s singles (MS) players simultaneously held the #Olympic title (Poul-Erik Høyer), the World title (Peter Rasmussen) and world number 1 status (Peter Gade). Similarly, in the early 1990s Indonesia had different players, Alan Budi Kusuma, Joko Suprianto, Ardy Wiranata and Hariyanto Arbi who together held Olympic, World and WR1 status. With the new world rankings published yesterday, France now has 2 different players who hold both the world title, Alex Lanier, and world number 1 status, Christo Popov. Not only did these 2 players win the last 2 Super 750 events on the #WorldTour (WT), they have also won 4 of the 6 WT 750 events this year. Lanier the Singapore and Denmark Opens, and Popov the Japan and French Opens. Whilst these 2 players live in different parts of France and train with different coaches, which may create a healthy rivalry, I suspect they are both also inspired and motivated by the other’s success. #ThomasCup Silver and Toma Junior Popov’s final at the China Open all confirm that France has become a major force in world terms in MS. Like Sweden’s rise in tennis, it’s always exciting when a country with previous limited international success in a sport suddenly emerges as a major global powerhouse adding diversity and interest to the success enjoyed by more established nations. Huge congratulations to both Alex Lanier and Christo Popov on their incredible and historic achievements. And with talented juniors on the horizon, the reproduction of French success appears set to continue. 📸 @badmintonphoto