Sanctioned for throwing a racket, table tennis player Félix Lebrun says he was “very afraid” of disqualification – Libération

2024-10-20 09:50:00

The youngest of the Lebrun brothers was punished with a red card on Saturday during the European table tennis championships after throwing his racket in anger. He will try to win a doubles title alongside his brother Alexis this Sunday afternoon.

A gesture he bitterly regretted. Sanctioned for throwing his racket after the defeat in the quarter-finals of the European table tennis championships on Saturday in Linz (Austria), Félix Lebrun admitted having “very scared” not being able to play the doubles final with his brother Alexis, this Sunday, October 20th.

While he had just been beaten 4-3 by the German Benedikt Duda, after having obtained a remarkable match point, the youngest of the Lebrun brothers, 18 years old, threw his racket to the ground with anger and sadness, an action directly punished with a red card .

“Emotionally he finally gave in”

“I immediately saw that I could be disqualified from the doubles final” the Frenchman said after the match about the gold medal match he will play together with his brother against Swedes Anton Källberg and Truls Möregardh. Alexis Lebrun will play his singles semifinal at 1pm against Truls Möregardh.

“It’s a bit of a tough match for me, I have many opportunities to go further in the standings and emotionally in the end I gave in” explained the young man, who “He certainly regrets it” his gesture.

“I didn’t want to hurt anyone, I tried to get angry where there was no one, but I won’t do it again” he promised, evoking “a bit of embarrassment and shame” immediately after his reaction.

“Félix had a reaction related to his age”

Finally, the men’s doubles team formed by the Lebrun brothers will not be sanctioned. Félix Lebrun, however, will not be able to register the points acquired during these European Championships, and will have to reimburse a damaged portion of the screen. “The most important thing is that we can play [dimanche]. I was really tense about it.he added.

“I found that one of the referees was very understanding and tried to defend the interests of the sport,” greeted coach Nathanaël Molin. Without defending his player’s gesture, the latter believes it “Félix had a reaction related to his age and his level of expectation […]. He regrets this gesture, he did it, we have to live with it.” “He got scared. I think he’ll talk to his parents about it, he concluded. Félix is ​​a champion, he will recover.”