A few days ago she was a high school student like the others, applied to pass and pass her baccalaureate in an establishment in Val-de-Marne. A science baccalaureate, math and SVT options as far as she is concerned. This Sunday, June 26, at the Vendéspace in Mouilleron-le-Captif (Vendée), Prithika Pavade was not a player like the others. She is gifted. At 17, the player from the Saint-Denis club, nugget of the tricolor ping, became the new champion of France.
In the final, she sharply beat in four sets (12-10, 11-4, 12-10, 11-7) the six-time French champion Jia Nan Yuan… twenty years her senior. A clear victory and a revenge on last year when Prithika had to settle for a silver medal.
“She had beaten her opponent twice in the team championship this year but it remains an achievement, especially in this way, assures Jean-Claude Mollet, its president in Saint-Denis, whose club brings back 6 medals including 3 titles with the doubles. She had a great level of play. It was her best match of the championships. It had started timidly with a 4-2 win in their first game. The situation improved significantly thereafter.
“There is a lot of joy and pride, savors Pavade who, several minutes after the medal ceremony, was still signing autographs by the dozens. This title means a lot to me, it’s impossible to find the right words to describe what I feel at match point. I did not expect to win 4-0. It’s a great reward for all the work done with my teams over the years. »
Already crowned in all categories as a young person and a great hope of a medal for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the new queen of France therefore won her first title in senior singles. “Qualifying for the Tokyo Games last year also remains a very strong moment, but this title is certainly the most important in France, especially since there was the public, there was a great atmosphere”, confides the young woman who, on Saturday, had already opened the harvest by winning the women’s doubles with her club partner Camille Lutz (19).
Entrance to university
Pavade will now turn to the European Championships in August with the ambition of doing better than a round of 32 in the last edition. Afterwards, she will finally be able to prepare for her entrance to the university for a scientific license. Like young people of his age…
A wind of youth and madness also blew among the gentlemen since Alexis Lebrun defied the odds by offering himself, in the final, the scalp of the double defending champion and triple French champion Simon Gauzy (11-6, 11- 6, 11-8, 11-7). “I couldn’t have dreamed of better, I didn’t miss anything in this final, everything went well,” reacted the 18-year-old Montpellier resident and already 48th in the world rankings.
In the semi-final, the one who played a few matches with Cergy-Pontoise last season beat his younger brother Félix, 15, who won the men’s doubles title on Saturday with Laurent Cova.