ShuttleSquad - Badminton Podcast

This week, it’s just the guys! With Kirsty on holiday, Christo Popov and Marvin Seidel join Thommy for a wide-ranging chat on all things badminton. From life after a short break to the challenges of climbing the rankings, the group gets real about the demands of the tour, the state of the sport, and what keeps them going. 💬 Plus: some bold opinions, laughs, and a few personal updates from Christo...

Thommy catches up with Christo Popov and Kirsty Gilmour after the recent Asian tour . Christo shares insights on the tough conditions in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia , while Kirsty talks training, travel, and tournament life. Plus, the squad dives into hot takes on nutrition, doubles vs. singles, and An Se-young’s future. 🎧 Tune in for laughs, behind-the-scenes stories, and sharp badminton...

In this exciting episode 36 of the ShuttleSquad – Badminton Podcast, Kirsty, Marvin, and Thommy dive into some major upcoming changes in the world of badminton, while Christo is busy competing in the Singapore Open semifinals. Thommy brings a fresh perspective by sharing lessons from recent tennis and gymnastics tournaments—what can badminton learn from these sports? And don’t miss the end of the...

In this episode, host Thomas Fuchs is joined by Christo Popov and Kirsty Gilmour to take a deep dive into the current badminton scoring system. Is it holding the sport back? Could a change make it more attractive? The squad shares their thoughts, debates possible improvements, and explores how tweaking the system could elevate the game to new heights. This week, the crew also introduces something...

Who's the best coach Marvin's ever had? What is he focussing on while doing video analysis? Is there a training exercise Marvin really hates? In this one on one episode the newly crowned winner of the Luxembourg Open in mixed doubles Marvin Seidel & Thommy Fuchs are discussing these - and many more questions - regarding Marvin's life as a professional badminton player. Enjoy episode 34 of the...

Is the badminton calendar too full? How can we create more highlights? When is it okay to push through an injury and when is it better to call it off? Are we all just a little tired of badminton after a fast paced start to 2025? Kirsty, Marvin, and Thommy discussing all these topics in this weeks podcast episode. Enjoy episode 33 of the ShuttleSquad!

Please welcome our first guest in ShuttleSquad history: Toma Junior Popov! This episode provides insight in the relationship of the french brothers Toma Junior and Christo Popov who both are in the top-25 in the men's singels world ranking + are also ranked no. 18 in men's doubles! Two brothers on court with their dad as coach behind the court becoming European Champion just recently in Ho...

Christo Popov just became European Champions... in doubles! No front, but we didn't see that coming, and Christo also didn't. In this episode we obviously wrap up the European Championships that took place in Horsens, Denmark form April 8 -13. Not a full wrap, as Kirsty could not join the Squad this week, but for sure a nice little chat about upsets, surprises and an unlucky week for team Denmark...

The ShuttleSquad is back! After a solid 6-month-break, Kirsty Gilmour , Christo Popov, Marvin Seidel and Thommy Fox gather around their microphones for the kick-off of season 2. And could there be a better timing for the first ever group episode? We don't think so! After a little Olympics throwback and some emotional memories, the Squad is looking ahead to the European Championships that are start...

The last episode of this Olympic journey of the ShuttleSquad. After getting a deep insight in Marvin's experience in the last episode, Thommy is wrapping things up with Kirsty, Christo and Selena. It was an intense ride and everybody took some time off after Paris but we wanted to end this journey with a little wrap-up of the whole ride since we started recording in January. And Selena is also rev...

Back after a while.. with a deep one! After taking some time off and recovering from the Olympics, Marvin and Thommy are back with a new episode of ShuttleSquad. Looking back at Marvin's hard time preparing for the Olympics with his injured partner Mark and what happened behind the scenes before and during the event. Marvin gives unfiltered insight into his mind during that hard phase and how...

Christo and Thommy are talking about Christo's first Olympic Games and the experience to walk into the most crowded arena on home soil. Don't miss Christo's match analysis and his take on the upcoming men's singles final and why in his opinion it could be Viktor's last chance to take a Gold at the Oympics. Enjoy!

You better put your headphones on and turn up the volume a notch, because this is a live call from a windy roof top terrace of the Team NL Building in the Olympic Village. Selena Piek dialed in for a quick update from Paris just a day before the Olympic Games officially kick off with the Opening Ceremony. How have the first few days been, how does she sleep in the cardboard beds, how's trainin...

Stressful times for badminton fans following our beloved sport filling the headlines, not with praise for one of the coolest sports there is, but with discussions around men's doubles draws and withdrawals due to missed doping tests. Kirsty and Thommy try to wrap up the latest news and are getting ready for the biggest event we have in our sport - without stressing out about it too much. We&#3...

A fair bit of confusion around the badminton world yesterday when the BWF announced that the men's doubles draw for the Olympic Games will be postponed just a few hours before the draw of the remaining four disciplines started. In today's special episode Thommy and Marvin Seidel are talking about the results of the draw and how the men's doubles situation could be solved in a potential...

Episode 23 with Christo Popov coming to you with a little delay but is still 100% worth diving into Christo's Olympic preparations. It's the last episode we will get the draws for Paris and Christo hands in his guesses for the gold medals & will tell you what factor will probably make the difference when it counts. Enjoy!

We're back from our little 2-week summer break with a very special one. Robin Tabeling, Selena'a mixed doubles partner, recently announced his retirement at the end of the year and Thommy and Selena discussed what that means for her career. More topics: The Dutch NOC will cut the badminton funding. What does that mean for the future of badminton in the Netherlands and should we bring Europ...

We caught Kirsty Gilmour during the Indonesia Open for the 21st episode of ShuttleSquad. After chatting about the recent results we put focus on the more important questions? What are Kirsty's plans after her third Olympic Games? Who will get the Olympic golds? And what is her favorite vegetable? Important questions to ask and also really interesting answers in this one. Enjoy!

20 episodes down already into our little podcast project and we're approaching the final period of Olympic preparations. Especially for Marvin Seidel, who didn't play individual tournaments since February due to his partner's injury, the training period is already getting intense. Thommy and Marvin talked about the recent weeks, results of the last tournaments, and also about some inte...

A hectic little update straight from Malaysia (Christo) and Budapest (Thommy) with a training-, injury- and tournament wrap-up of our freshly crowned 4-time national champion Christo Popov. The shortest episode so far (even our Big4 turned into a Big1) and we really hope to find a more relaxed atmosphere again for our next episodes. Anyways: Enjoy!

Selena Piek is back from holiday, fully recharged and ready to prepare for her third Olympic Games. But how do you structure your training in the perfect way to peak when it counts? What were the biggest surprises at the Thomas & Uber Cup Finals? Which city would Selena love to live in and would she go back in time if she could? And why was she close to retire from professional badminton back...

After the European Championships 4 weeks ago, Kirsty Gilmour took a little break from badminton before starting into a training block which allowed her to stay at home in Scotland for a few weeks - quite special after 4 months of basically living out of a suitcase. But now the next tournaments are calling and we are getting ready for the upcoming Asian leg in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Tho...

We are tired. After a fun but intense week in Chengdu for Thomas Cup, Marvin and Thommy are recording this episode at the airport in Beijing during a layover on their way home. Good matches, amazing Chinese food and some really nice insights into one of the biggest badminton tournaments of the year. As we were recording in public and had to reduce noise, the audio is a little off this episode. We...

Christo Popov went through an emotional rollercoaster in the recent weeks. From being on track to qualify for the Olympic Games in two disciplines, to being not qualified in either of them, and now back to hoping to go in men's doubles together with his brother Toma Junior. It's been a crazy ride and Christo & Thommy break down the final days of the Olympic qualification and also the c...

Selena and Thommy are in holiday mode. The European Championships are over and marked a crazy ending to the Olympic qualification period. Selena will be playing her third Olympic Games in summer, but first: IBIZA! It's the shortest episode of ShuttleSquad so far but definitely worth listening. Enjoy!