The party kicked off the second they stepped into the mixed zone, where their coaching staff blindsided them with a pop of champagne. But that victory splash was just the opening act.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u200bWhen IANS asked the French mixed doubles pair how they plan to truly celebrate the historic gold, Gicquel kept it unapologetically direct: \u200b\"We are gonna take the bottle and put it in our mouth. That's the goal.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Gicquel and Delrue outplayed top seeds Feng Yan Zhe\/Huang Dong Ping in a tactical masterclass in the mixed doubles final at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi on Sunday. It was Europe\u2019s first gold in a paired event since 2009 \u2013 incidentally, also in India \u2013 when Denmark\u2019s Thomas Laybourn\/Kamilla Rytter-Juhl won the title.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The French completely took Huang out of the equation at the net, and even dared to flick-serve Feng from time to time. In fact, it was a flick serve on match point that finally delivered the historic moment for France.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"A lot of emotion, really, really happy and super proud to win the first gold for France,\u201d said Delrue after the win. \"It was an amazing match; both pairs played really well, and we had to try a lot for a win. It\u2019s amazing to hear the national anthem on the podium for the first time.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"We\u2019re thinking, it\u2019s amazing to be between two Chinese flags,\u201d said Gicquel. \u201cWhen you are 10 years old, you don\u2019t really think that can happen, and it\u2019s really hard to believe, actually. It\u2019s really important for French badminton.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"A lot of emotion, really, really happy and super proud to win the first gold for France,\u201d said Delrue after the win. \"It was an amazing match; both pairs played really well, and we had to try a lot for a win. It\u2019s amazing to hear the national anthem on the podium for the first time.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"The air is difficult, so I hope the BWF will now try to make India host in the summer rather than in the winter, where it's difficult to breathe and it's really cold.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n