Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue lost in the first round of French Open 2019.

Wednesday evening all eyes at Stade Pierre de Coubertin were on French youngsters, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue. The European Games medallists have over and over shown that they are the future for French badminton and today in Paris, the fans were hoping to see a minor miracle happen.

Gicquel and Delrue faced the World Championships runner-up and winner of Korea Open, Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai from Thailand, and the French were clearly the underdog.

Thai played faster
Last week at Denmark Open the French took a big win beating the world number three and former All England winner, Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino, Japan, but Gicquel/Delrue could not make back-to-back first round wins. The Thai won 21-15 21-16.

- They played faster than us and put a lot of pressure on us. They attack very well so it was hard to defend, but I actually think we played well, Delphine Delrue said.

- Today we made too many mistakes in the serve and receiving and that made the difference, Gicquel added.

Next up for the young French is Fuzhou China Open in November.