2023-08-23 19:38:44
In the Lebrun family, here is Félix, the youngest. From the height of his 16 years (17 on September 12), this young Montpellier resident occupies the place of the first French player in the world ranking of table tennis, 15th at the general level. He won this title from his big brother Alexis, himself reigning French champion, after winning the gold medal at the European Games at the end of June in Krakow (Poland), his first major title at the international level.
Among the Lebruns, ping-pong is a family affair: the father, Stéphane Lebrun was number seven in France and the uncle, Christophe Legoût, number fourteen in the world. Mother Dominique and the two sisters are also very involved in the club. “I’ve been playing ping-pong since I was three years old,” says Félix, who was in Montpellier on August 18.
“This year, I spent 250 days abroad”
“I was first coached by my father and then by my own coach from the age of seven. As I had good potential, I left for sport-study from CM1, without waiting for sixth grade, ”he adds.
As he prepares to enter first year this year, the young racket prodigy will now continue his studies partly remotely. If his level has made a leap forward since he joined the professional circuit two years ago, his presence in the classroom has on the contrary been much rarer. “This year, I spent 250 days abroad for the competitions”, he justifies. His terminal, with the baccalaureate, will then be spread over two years.
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European Games Final.
We are in the deciding round.
Led 9-7, Félix came back to 9-9.????????????#TeamFrance ???????? #JeuxEuropeens2023 pic.twitter.com/Y09xJCZSbw
— French Table Tennis Federation (@ffttofficiel) June 28, 2023
“In view of the sporting events to come, it was a bit much to do everything at the same time,” he smiles. Among them, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which he does not want to think too much about yet. “There is a lot of competition before that”, confirms the one who will be in Sweden in three weeks for the European Team Championship. A French hopeful, he makes sure to keep a cool head, even when he receives a letter of congratulation and encouragement signed by the President of the Republic!
He holds his racket like the Chinese
With six hours of training a day, Félix Lebrun hones his technique to face the undisputed masters of his discipline: the Chinese: “They are the strongest, there is no debate. There, ping-pong is the national sport, it’s their own football. If they still dominate the discipline, we will do our best to challenge them. »
To achieve this, Félix does not hesitate to go on their own ground by adopting, for example, their way of holding the racket. This is called the pen holder. To his knowledge, he is the only European player to have adopted it.
“The racquet is held like a pen. The wrist is freer and this allows me to take my opponent by surprise more easily. I discovered it while watching Chinese table tennis player Chen Jian, who had come to train in Montpellier,” he explains. A technique that should carry him far and long on the ping-pong planet, Félix intending to pursue a career as a professional player before one day becoming a coach, like his father.
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