Toma Junior Popov

Toma Junior Popov (born 29 September 1998) is a French badminton player.^[1][2] Partnered with his brother Christo Popov, he won the men's doubles gold at the 2025 European Championships.^[3] He competed at the 2018 Mediterranean Games and claimed the men's singles bronze medal.^[4]

Toma Junior Popov
Personal information
Country	France
Born	(1998-09-29) 29 September 1998 (age 26) Sofia, Bulgaria
Residence	Fos-sur-Mer, France
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	86 kg (190 lb)
Handedness	Right
Men's singles & doubles
Highest ranking	15 (MS, 5 August 2025) 16 (MD with Christo Popov, 29 July 2025)
Current ranking	15 (MS) 15 (MD with Christo Popov) (5 August)
Medal record Men's badminton Representing  France European Games 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Men's singles 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Men's doubles European Championships 2025 Horsens Men's doubles 2024 Saarbrücken Men's singles 2025 Horsens Men's singles 2022 Madrid Men's singles European Men's Team Championships 2016 Kazan Men's team 2024 Łódź Men's team 2018 Kazan Men's team 2020 Liévin Men's team European Mixed Team Championships 2021 Vantaa Mixed team 2023 Aire-sur-la-Lys Mixed team 2025 Baku Mixed team Mediterranean Games 2018 Tarragona Men's singles European Junior Championships 2017 Mulhouse Boys' singles 2017 Mulhouse Boys' doubles 2017 Mulhouse Mixed team 2015 Lubin Boys' singles 2015 Lubin Mixed team
BWF profile

In the juniors, Popov won the bronze medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships in the boys' singles event.^[5] Popov made history as the first non-Danish male player to win a European Junior team gold as well as the men's singles and doubles in 2017. He joined Peter Gade, Jim Laugesen, and Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen as the only men to have ever completed the treble.^[6]

Early and personal life

Born in Sofia, Popov came from a badminton family. His father, Thomas, is a former Bulgarian and French national player. His brother, Christo Popov, also plays badminton. He started to play when he was 8 with neighbour and won his school championship at age of 9. Both of them trained at the Fos-sur-Mer club.^[7]

Achievements

European Games

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2023	Arena Jaskółka, Tarnów, Poland	Viktor Axelsen	17–21, 18–21	Bronze

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2023	Arena Jaskółka, Tarnów, Poland	Christo Popov	Ben Lane Sean Vendy	15–21, 14–21	Bronze

European Championships

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2022	Polideportivo Municipal Gallur, Madrid, Spain	Anders Antonsen	16–21, 21–19, 15–21	Bronze
2024	Saarlandhalle, Saarbrücken, Germany	Anders Antonsen	18–21, 13–21	Silver
2025	Forum, Horsens, Denmark	Alex Lanier	17–21, 18–21	Silver

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2025	Forum, Horsens, Denmark	Christo Popov	Éloi Adam Léo Rossi	21–12, 18–21, 21–18	Gold

Mediterranean Games

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	El Morell Pavilion, Tarragona, Spain	Muhammed Ali Kurt	21–17, 21–16	Bronze

European Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2015	Regional Sport Centrum Hall, Lubin, Poland	Anders Antonsen	13–21, 9–21	Bronze
2017	Centre Sportif Régional d'Alsace, Mulhouse, France	Arnaud Merklé	21–14, 21–15	Gold

Boys' doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2017	Centre Sportif Régional d'Alsace, Mulhouse, France	Thom Gicquel	Max Flynn Callum Hemming	21–17, 21–13	Gold

BWF World Tour (4 titles, 3 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,^[8] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the BWF World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.^[9]

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Level	Opponent	Score	Result
2020	SaarLorLux Open	Super 100	Mark Caljouw	22–20, 19–21, 21–14	Winner
2021	Orléans Masters	Super 100	Mads Christophersen	23–21, 21–13	Winner
2021	Spain Masters	Super 300	Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo	21–15, 21–17	Winner
2022	Orléans Masters	Super 100	Mithun Manjunath	21–11, 21–19	Winner
2024	Spain Masters	Super 300	Loh Kean Yew	11–21, 21–15, 20–22	Runner-up
2024	Hylo Open	Super 300	Christo Popov	13–21, 10–21	Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2025	German Open	Super 300	Christo Popov	Kim Won-ho Seo Seung-jae	19–21, 17–21	Runner-up

BWF International Challenge/Series (10 titles, 1 runner-up)

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	Latvia International	Kasper Lehikoinen	21–14, 21–14	Winner
2018	Hellas International	Ondřej Král	21–7, 21–13	Winner
2018	Latvia International	Léo Rossi	21–10, 21–15	Winner
2018	Spanish International	Lucas Corvée	21–13, 21–17	Winner
2018	Bulgarian Open	Arnaud Merklé	22–20, 21–12	Winner
2018	Czech Open	Victor Svendsen	21–16, 21–11	Winner
2019	Bulgarian Open	Abhinav Manota	21–15, 21–10	Winner
2019	Irish Open	Pablo Abián	21–10, 24–22	Winner

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Bulgarian Eurasia Open	Thomas Vallez	Ronan Guéguin Alexandre Hammer	11–10, 11–10, 11–9	Winner
2018	Bulgarian Open	Christo Popov	Chen Yu-jun Lin Bing-wei	17–21, 21–7, 21–17	Winner
2019	Italian International	Christo Popov	Bjarne Geiss Jan Colin Völker	18–21, 16–21	Runner-up

BWF Junior International (9 titles, 4 runners-up)

Boys' singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Bulgarian Junior International	Alexandre Hammer	11–10, 4–11, 4–11, 11–6, 11–4	Winner
2015	Bulgarian Junior International	Daniel Nikolov	21–9, 19–21, 13–21	Runner-up
2015	Slovenia Junior International	Wolfgang Gnedt	21–14, 10–21, 23–21	Winner
2016	Hellas Junior International	Nhat Nguyen	21–17, 11–21, 21–14	Winner
2016	Belgian Junior International	Arnaud Merklé	21–15, 21–12	Winner
2016	Danish Junior Cup	Nhat Nguyen	21–16, 19–21, 24–22	Winner

Boys' doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Bulgarian Junior International	Thomas Vallez	Ronan Gueguin Alexandre Hammer	10–11, 11–10, 9–11, 11–6, 6–11	Runner-up
2015	Hungarian Junior International	Thomas Vallez	Aleksander Jabłoński Paweł Śmiłowski	21–17, 20–22, 21–19	Winner
2015	Slovenia Junior International	Gregor Dunikowski	Emre Cömert Baran Yüksel	21–16, 21–17	Winner
2016	Hellas Junior International	Thomas Baures	Éloi Adam Samy Corvée	21–18, 21–15	Winner
2016	Bulgarian Junior International	Léo Rossi	Pakin Kuna-anuvit Natthapat Trinkajee	13–21, 8–21	Runner-up
2016	Belgian Junior International	Léo Rossi	Zach Russ Steven Stallwood	21–11, 21–15	Winner
2016	Danish Junior Cup	Karl Thor Søndergaard	Rasmus Kjær Jesper Toft	14–21, 21–17, 17–21	Runner-up

  BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament

  BWF Junior International Challenge tournament

  BWF Junior International Series tournament

  BWF Junior Future Series tournament