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

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

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

“Emotionally it gave out at the end”

“Right away, I saw that I could be disqualified from the doubles final,” said the Frenchman after the match about the gold medal match he will play alongside his brother against Swedes Anton Källberg and Truls Möregardh. Alexis Lebrun will play his singles semi-final at 1 p.m., against Truls Möregardh.

“It’s a bit of a tough match for me, I have a lot of opportunities to go further in the table and emotionally it gave out at the end,” explained the young man, who “definitely regrets” 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 little embarrassment and shame” right after his reaction.

“Félix had a reaction linked to his age”

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

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