Félix Lebrun continues to establish himself as a heavyweight in world table tennis. This Sunday, at the age of 18, he became the first Frenchman to win a WTT champions tournament, under the eyes of his audience in Montpellier.
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He was on another planet, his own. At home, Félix Lebrun won the WTT Champions in Montpellier, a first for a French player, consolidating his place as a great in his discipline at only 18 years old. Winner four sets to one against the Japanese Tomokasu Harimoto, 8th player in the world whom he had already beaten at the Olympic Games, Félix Lebrun lived the dream week in the Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, where his face was everywhere on the posters and signs and where his name is now included in the tournament’s prize list.
An exceptional semi-final
Never before has a Frenchman won a WTT Champions, the second level tournament after the Grand Smashes – the equivalent of grand slams in tennis – on the world circuit. Félix Lebrun had already won two WTT titles, in Antalya in 2023 and in Goa in India this year. So if it took one to push the limits a little further, it could probably only be “Féfé”, even if some of the best players in the world, like world number 1 Wang Chuqin or Olympic champion Fan Zhendong were missing. on call this week.
There was his big brother, Alexis, 21 years old, just crowned with a European champion title in singles in Linz and in doubles with Félix, a week ago. But the 18-year-old cadet (world No.7) overthrew him the day before in a crazy atmosphere, three sets to one. The two brothers did not have time to uncork the champagne to celebrate their journey to Austria, “ we will wait for Féfé to win a second title “, the elder said with a smile after his defeat in the quarter-final.
Also readTable tennis: a Lebrun versus Lebrun duel, and Félix wins in the end
From now on, the champagne will be able to flow freely to celebrate a crazy month of October for the Lebruns, when it is not a whole year which will be marked by their success, after the Paris Games where they brought home bronze in singles (for Félix) and in teams with Simon Gauzy. It was during this same small team final that Félix Lebrun had already put on a show in front of Tomokasu Harimoto, 21, dismissing three match points in the 5th set, before winning on the road to bronze.
“ This is Montpellier ! »
Earlier on Sunday, he achieved a first feat by dismissing world number 2 Lin Shidong four sets to zero, while the Chinese table tennis player remained on 19 matches without defeat and three tournaments won, including the Grand Smash in Beijing. The Montpellier man then seemed on cloud nine, a bit like Alexis had been in Linz. Right under the eyes of his brother, sitting in the stands, he kept a six-day table tennis festival going in Hérault until the end.
“ Here, here, is Montpellier ! “, he sang in chorus with the audience after the final in which he only left his opponent one set. While his performances at the Olympics gave many ideas to apprentice table tennis players, happy to adopt his famous “penholder grip”, this new success should make the Lebrun Mania last longer. And after the purple neon lights of the Montpellier Arena, the “Féfé” phenomenon has clearly not finished shining.