France and Canada signed up for an epic evening at the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup 2019 after upstaging their more accomplished Group 2 rivals Netherlands and Germany during the group phase of the tournament.

Thom Gicquel and Ronan Labar maintained their undefeated record at this year’s Sudirman Cup defeating Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue/Nyl Yakura 21-17 21-16 to give France the early lead.

Michelle Li quickly restored parity with a 21-7 21-4 win over Yaelle Hoyaux. Her clinical effort gave Canada the lift they needed.

“I’m really happy I could start the winning momentum for Canada. I think we still have a chance so I will go back to the stands and cheer for my team,” she said post-match

How right she was. Canada’s Brian Yang rose to the occasion against Brice Leverdez. The 17-year-old belied his No. 122 world ranking to defeat the veteran Leverdez (ranked No. 34), 21-14 21-12.

Again, Canada found themselves in the position of underdog, this time in women’s doubles as Rachel Honderich/Kristen Tsai squared off against Emilie Lefel/Anne Tran in the decisive fourth match.

Acrobatic saves by Honderich/Tsai to win the point 🇨🇦🏸#TOTALBWFSC2019 #Nanning2019

RESULTS: https://t.co/fpdpM8wre4 pic.twitter.com/5bIy3NrqQh

— BWF (@bwfmedia) May 24, 2019

The Canadians’ persistent attack and desperate defence wowed the crowd as they cruised to a 21-11 21-17 win to secure their team 13^th place overall.

Group 2 Final Standings

13 – Canada

14 – France

15 – Netherlands

16 – Germany

17 – Singapore

18 – Vietnam

19 – USA

20 – Israel

Sri Lanka Smash Ireland to win Group 3

Sri Lanka produced a stunning blow to top seeds Ireland to claim Group 3 – this coming after an inspirational victory over second seeds Switzerland earlier in the week.

Ireland was 2-0 ahead after winning the mixed doubles and men’s singles, but Sri Lanka rallied via Kavidi Sirimannage and a determined Sachin Dias/Buwaneka Goonethilleka to equalise at 2-2.

Sirimannage then returned for the deciding women’s doubles match and together with Thilini Pramodika Hendahewa outlasted Rachael Darragh/Chloe Magee 21-15 22-24 21-17 in 80 gruelling minutes.

In other Group 3 classification matches, Switzerland and Slovakia had narrow wins against Australia and New Zealand, while Lithuania secured their first victory of the week with a 3-1 result over Nepal.

Tremendous defensive backhand by Sachin Dias/Buwaneka Goonethileka 🇱🇰💪🏸
Catch it live on https://t.co/Hltm3xVRfv

RESULT: https://t.co/KW00KJaJ5E#TOTALBWFSC2019 #Nanning2019 pic.twitter.com/V6ioE7Ttgs

— BWF (@bwfmedia) May 24, 2019

Group 3 Final Standings

21 – Sri Lanka

22 – Ireland

23 – Switzerland

24 – Australia

25 – Slovakia

26 – New Zealand

27 – Lithuania

28 – Nepal

For full results, click here.