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

The day before, he had defeated fate by qualifying against his brother Alexis, whom he had never beaten in five confrontations. This time, Félix Lebrun opened the door to the final of the WTT Champions tournament in Montpellier by pushing overboard the world number 2, the Chinese Lin Shidong, four sets to nothing this Sunday, October 27.

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

In the final against Tomokasu Harimoto

“There’s still one more match to go, we’re going to do it all together, we’re going to go for this title,” proclaimed the young man at the organization’s microphone after the meeting, almost prevented from speaking in front of the crowd who then sang the Marseillaise.

Facing him, Tomokasu Harimoto presents himself as world number 8, one place 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.

Saturday during their quarter-final, the Lebrun brothers set their audience on fire with an exchange that will go down in table tennis annals.