the Lebrun brothers in the doubles final of the WTT Finals in Japan

Alexis and Félix Lebrun beat their French counterparts Esteban Dorr and Florian Bourrassaud 3 sets to 0 on Friday November 22 in the semi-finals of the WTT Finals men's doubles tournament, a table tennis competition equivalent to the Masters in tennis, which brings together , in Fukuoka (Japan), the best players in the world rankings. The world number 2 in the discipline will face the Japanese Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami in the final on Saturday (at 12:45 p.m. Paris time).

“The first set was decisive, they led 10-8, but we managed to score an important point at 10-9. Then we relaxed and played our best.”explained Félix Lebrun, 18 years old and world number 4 in singles. The Lebrun brothers then left no chance to the Japanese pair (12-10, 11-6, 11-3), made up of two players ranked above 100^e place in the individual ranking and ranked 11^e world ranking in doubles.

“In our last tournament together in Linz, I lost to (the German Benedikt) Duda in singles and we won in doubles. I hope the scenario repeats itself here”launched Félix Lebrun after the victory. He was referring to his defeat in singles as soon as he entered the round of 16 at this WTT Finals, Wednesday November 20, against Benedikt Duda.

Alexis and Félix Lebrun, European doubles champions, will have the opportunity to end their excellent season in style on Saturday – bronze medalists at the Paris Olympic Games and silver at the team world championships in Busan (South Korea). . The Japanese pair, whom they will face, defeated the Singaporeans Pang Koen and Quek Izaac, world number 6, in four sets (8-11, 11-8, 11-5 and 11-6).

Individually, the week came to an end for the stars of French table tennis. Twenty-four hours after Félix, Alexis, 21 years old and world number 14, was logically dominated by world number 2 and big favorite of the tournament, the Chinese Lin Shidong (3-1).