Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue secured France's first-ever gold medal at the Badminton World Federation World Championships, defeating top seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping 22-20, 19-21, 21-15 in the mixed doubles final at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi on Sunday.
The victory ended a 17-year European drought in doubles events at the world championships. The last European pair to claim a doubles title was Denmark's Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter-Juhl in 2009. Gicquel and Delrue employed a tactical approach that limited Huang's net play and used flick serves against Feng, with a flick serve on match point sealing the historic win.
France added a second gold when Alex Lanier defeated Japan's Kodai Naraoka 21-11, 21-11 in the men's singles final, capping a breakthrough tournament for French badminton.