It will be an all-French affair in the men\u2019s singles final at the Orleans Masters badminton championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second seeded Alex Lanier and fourth seed Toma Junior Popov, both dispatched outsiders Yudai Okimoto of Japan and China\u2019s Hui Zhean repectively in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twenty-one-year-old Lanier, is on course to defend his Orleans Masters title after a clinical 21-14, 21-12 win over Okimoto. He is also seeking his first major title on the BWF Tour since Orleans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Popov is also hoping to make history at the championships, seeking a third Orleans Masters crown. The 27-year-old, who was beaten by sibling Christo at the German Open earlier this year, had won in Orleans in 2021 and in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both his wins were at a time when the Orleasn Masters was a Super 100 before it was upgraded to Super 300. His win over India\u2019s Mithun Manunath in the 2022 final was also his last victory in the Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the semi-finals last night, Popov dashed the hopes of Zhean, the former world junior champion, 21-16, 21-14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Popov and Lanier have met three times in their career with the latter holding a 2-1 advantage. However, it was Popov, who won when the duo last met at the China Open last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, it was the end of the road for both Indian shuttlers in the women\u2019s singles competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upstarts Tanvi Sharma and Isharani Baruah were both beaten in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirty-one-year-old veteran Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, the 2017 world champion, packed enough firepower to beat Tanvi 21-9, 21-16 in her semi-final tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She will take on Thailand\u2019s Pitchamon Opatniputh in the final. Pitchamon, who was beaten in the Indonesia Masters final by China\u2019s Chen Yufei earlier this year, overcame a strong fightback from Isharani before prevailing 21-12, 23-21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will only be the second meeting between the duo, with Okuhara beating Pitchamon in three games when the last met at the Kumamoto Masters Japan last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s singles: <\/strong>Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) 21-14, 21-12; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Hu Zhean (Chn) 21-16, 21-14<\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s doubles: <\/strong>Hu Keyuan-Lin Xiangyi (Chn) bt Leo Rolly Carnando-Bagas Maulana (Ina) 21-19, 21-10; Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Christian Faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer (Den) 21-18, 21-19<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s singles: <\/strong>Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Tanvi Sharma (Ind) 21-9, 21-16; Pitchamon Opatniputh (Tha) bt Isharani Baruah (Ind) 21-12, 23-21<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s doubles: <\/strong>Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Rachel Allessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) 21-10, 22-20; Lin Chih-Chun-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) bt Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 17-21, 21-19, 21-18<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mixed doubles: <\/strong>Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Liu Kuang Heng-Jheng Yu Chieh (Tpe) 18-21, 21-18, 21-16; Mathias Christiansen-Alexandre Boje (Den) bt Ruben Garcia-Lucia Rodriguez (Esp) 21-18, 14-21, 21-14<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It will be an all-French affair in the men\u2019s singles final at the Orleans Masters badminton championships. Second<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-10807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-badminton"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t