The world badminton championships got underway on Monday in Paris with the pressure on the local heroes Alex Lanier, the Popov brothers Toma Junior and Christo to translate their dominance at the European championships onto the global stage.
Lanier gave notice of his potential in August 2024, when he tore through the field to claim the Japan Open and become the first Frenchman to win a World Tour Super 750 event - one of the most coveted trophies on the circuit.
The 20-year-old confirmed that promise at the European championships in April in Denmark where he claimed the gold medal at the expense of compatriot Toma Junior Popov.
The Popovs combined during the championships in Horsens to claim gold. They will be in action together on Monday night at the world championships at the Adidas Arena in the men's doubles. Christo, ranked 10th and Toma Junior, the 15th seed, will also play in the singles.
Lanier starts his singles campaign on Monday afternoon against Kantaphon Wangcharoen from Thailand.
Mixed doubles pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue are seeded eighth at the world championships and start their quest for glory on Tuesday under what Gicquel admitted were new psychological pressures following their victory at the Indonesian Open in June.
The triumph made them the first French duo to win a Super 1000 tournament.
"I don't think we've ever been so much in the spotlight before a world championships," beamed Gicquel as he finished preparations for the world championships.
The 26-year-old, who has been partnering Delrue for eight years, added: "So there will be more pressure. But it also gives us a lot of confidence and it really makes us want to do well especially when you're in front of all the French fans, in front of your family and friends, it changes a lot of things."
"'We hope it will be like at the Olympic Games, packed and with incredible support," added Delrue. "We hope to relive the same emotions as last year, and that it will carry us through the whole week."
The 9,000 seat Adidas Arena in La Chapelle, northern Paris, was the only venue inside the city built specifically for the 2024 Games.
The seats inside the arena were made from recycled plastic bottle caps while the solar panels adorning the roof help to provide electricity for the sports complex which also housed para badminton during the 2024 Paralympics.
The Popovs, like Delrue and Gicquel, also basked in the energy emitted from stands while competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics where France won 16 gold medals to finish as the top European nation.
Success at the world championships would be a continuation of the recent impressive results of French players which has been an outcome of the way the sport is administered in France.
"It started many years ago with a new structure, more professionalism and the creation of a huge system that helps from the bottom to the best players and with a lot of financial help," Toma Junior said.
He and his sibling will also compete in men's singles. In doubles, they are ranked 19th while in singles Christo is ranked 10th while Toma Junior is ranked 15th.
Toma Junior said they work a lot on their physical fitness to compete in both categories.
"There are two different kinds of gameplay and two different kinds of mental setup," he added. "The more serious part is the men's singles, while doubles is the more enjoyable part."
Lanier and the Popovs - aided by a vociferous hometown crowd - will have to wade through a talented field.
Top seed Shi Yu Qi will be aiming to translate his recent dominance into a first prize at the circuit's most prestigious tournament after the Olympic Games.
Shi, who opens his campaign on Monday afternoon against India's Lakshya Sen, won three of four HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournaments in the run-up to the championships.
The successes propelled the 29-year-old Chinese star to the top of the world rankings. He is seeded to play Anders Antonsen from Denmark in the final.
Antonsen will carry his country's hopes of glory in the absence of his compatriot Viktor Axelsen.
The two-time world champion and double Olympic champion withdrew after failing to recover from surgery on his back in March.
In the women's draw, a year after claiming gold at the Olympics, top seed Se-young An from South Korea starts the defence of the singles crown she won in Copenhagen in 2023 against Clara Lassaux from Belgium.
Zhiyi Wang will begin against Agnes Korosi from Hungary and Anna Tatranova, France's only woman in the singles, plays the fourth seed Yufei Chen.