Félix Lebrun in the final in Montpellier eliminating the world number 2 – Libération

2024-10-27 14:40:00

The 18 year old from Montpellier, seventh in the world and favorite of the French since the Paris Olympic Games together with his brother Alexis, qualified this Sunday 27 October against the Chinese Lin Shidong. In the afternoon he will face a Japanese player in the final.

The day before he had defeated destiny by qualifying against his brother Alexis, whom he had never beaten in five matches. This time, Félix Lebrun opened the doors to the final of the WTT Champions tournament in Montpellier by knocking out the world number 2, the Chinese Lin Shidong, by four sets to zero this Sunday 27 October.

In front of an audience totally devoted to his cause, the 18-year-old Frenchman won 14-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3. A victory at the end, at home, would be an achievement because no Frenchman has so far won a WTT Champions, a second level tournament on the international circuit immediately after the Grand Smash, the equivalent of a tennis Grand Slam. .

In the final against Tomokasu Harimoto

“There is still a match to be played, we will all do it together, we will aim for this title” – exclaimed the young man into the organization’s microphone at the end of the meeting, almost unable to speak in front of the audience who then sang the Marseillaise.

In front of him, Tomokasu Harimoto presents himself as world number 8, one position behind the Frenchman in the WTT rankings. The Japanese had qualified for the final a few minutes earlier at the expense of the German Benedikt Duda, four sets to two.

On Saturday, during the quarterfinals, the Lebrun brothers inflamed the crowd with an exchange that will go down in the annals of table tennis.