He is one of those people disgusted by the draw, disappointed by the duel between the two stars of French table tennis, the Lebrun brothers. “I only accept this match if it’s in the final, otherwise I hate it,” smiles Nathanaël Molin, the coach of the Montpellier team, who has been around them since they were very young. But fate decided otherwise. This Saturday evening, at 9 p.m., the brothers will face each other in the quarter-finals of the WTT Champions in Montpellier. A highly anticipated match which he will not attend.
“I will come to the gym to see people during the afternoon but I will leave before the match, I don’t want to see that,” he whispered after Alexis’ victory against Truls Möregardh on Friday. I won’t go with them at all and I won’t even watch the game. I will still look at the result but this Saturday, I am on vacation, I will do an RTT.”
“I don’t want to go through this”
Usually on the brothers’ bench during each of their matches, he will therefore take some distance for this quarter-final and enjoy an evening at home, with a bottle of wine that he has “not yet chosen”. And there is no question of advising one or the other on the tactics to adopt either. “I’m not going to tell them anything at all, it’s no longer my problem, they’re managing,” he assumes. I’ve done my job to get them to this point but I don’t like it, it’s not pleasant. I don’t want to live it. »
Nathanaël Molin will only return to action on Sunday, for the semi-final and the possible final for the winner this Saturday evening. But he will not analyze this quarter-final to discuss some adjustments. “I have 300 matches to analyze during the year, if there is one that I don’t take, it’s not a big deal,” smiles the mentor of the two brothers.
“We’re going to relax during the warm-up, that’s for sure”
Alexis and Félix Lebrun will therefore have to adapt, and prepare for this match differently. “We share all our staff so no one is going to help us, we will have to fend for ourselves,” emphasized the eldest after his superb success against the Olympic vice-champion. Felix will watch videos, prepare a little tactic. I know he likes to give me little surprises at the start of the match, I’ll see what happens. I can’t wait, I hope it will be a good match. »
No war however, at least until entering the playing area. Because the people of Montpellier are above all brothers. “Until the tunnel, we’re brothers, we’re going to laugh and we’re going to have fun during the warm-up, that’s for sure,” Alexis laughs. When we enter the room, it will be a fight and then when we shake hands, we will laugh about it. » The European champion nevertheless hopes to emerge victorious from this match, and add a fifth victory in as many senior matches against his little brother.
