PETALING JAYA: France continue to show they are a rising force in world badminton.

On Saturday, Alex Lanier and Toma Junior Popov delighted the home crowd by setting up a rare all-French men’s singles final at the Orleans Masters.

Lanier defeated Yudai Okimoto of Japan 21-14, 21-12, while Toma overcame former world junior champion Hu Zhean of China 21-16, 21-14 in the semi-finals at the Palais des Sports.

The level between Lanier and Toma is closely matched, with the latter holding a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head record.

European men’s singles champion Lanier is ranked higher at world No. 10, six spots above Toma, who is No. 16.

Together with Toma’s brother - Christo, who ranked world No. 5, France boast a strong singles line-up heading into the Thomas Cup Finals in Horsens, Denmark, from April 24 to May 3.

France are in Group D alongside Indonesia, Thailand and Algeria and if they make it to the quarter-finals as one of the top two teams, they can challenge others, including Malaysia in the knockout stage. France also did well this year to emerge as the Europeans men’s team champions for the first time after defeating Denmark in the final in February.