Popov brothers Christo and Toma Junior gave France a great day in the quarterfinals of the YONEX German Open 2026. The brothers progressed in opposite halves in the singles.
Top seed Christo eased past Ng Ka Long Angus in straight games to set up a semifinal with India Open champion Lin Chun-Yi, while Toma Junior had a tougher quarterfinal against qualifier Minoru Koga, edging through 21-19 in the third.
French doubles pair and qualifiers Julien Maio and William Villeger made only their second semifinal in a year.
World No.89 pair Maio and Villeger, who fell in the first round of seven of their nine tournaments over the past year, fought back from a first game loss against No.23 Lee Fang Chih/Lee Fang Jen. The Lee brothers nearly stole the match from three match points down, but the Frenchmen thwarted their bid at the end to come away winners at 13-21, 21-12, 22-20. Their only other semifinal was at the YONEX Dutch Open last October.
In other matches, Tomoka Miyazaki turned around a prolonged spell of below-par results to make her first semifinal in 16 events. Miyazaki’s last semifinal was at the TOYOTA Thailand Open last May. The fourth seed held off a combative Kaloyana Nalbantova 18-21, 21-18, 21-15.
Men’s doubles fourth seeds Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen were taken down in straight games by Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi 21-13, 21-12.
The Singapore/Indonesia mixed doubles pair of Terry Hee/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja shut out fifth seeds Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie in straight games 21-17, 21-13.
