Félix Lebrun was beaten in the quarter-finals of the European Table Tennis Championship by the German Benedikt Duda 4 sets to 3 on Saturday in Linz (Austria), even though he was one of the favorites for the title. Frustrated by his elimination, he received a red card after a gesture of humor. a behavior that the main person concerned regrets.
And suddenly the nerves took over. While he led 2-0 against the German Duda (28th in the world) and even had a match point to reach a semi-final (and a bronze medal at least) in the singles of the championships. Table tennis Europe, Félix Lebrun, seeded number 1 in Linz (Austria), lost his means and his nerves, finally beaten 3-4 (11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 14-16, 6-11). The Montpellier native received a red card after the end of the match for throwing his racket.
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Under a sanction that could go as far as outright expulsion from the competition – and therefore no doubles final with his brother Alexis – the 18-year-old table tennis player was in the dark for a long time. “I immediately saw that I had a chance of being disqualified from the doubles final. I was immediately very scared. Nathanael (Molin, the Lebrun brothers’ coach) came straight to see me and said it was a possibility, I was tense about it,” he said after his defeat.
“It was a difficult match for me, I had a lot of chances to go far in the table. Emotionally, it gave out at the end. I did something that I regret. I didn’t wanted to hurt someone. I tried to get angry where there was no one. I won’t do it again. There’s a feeling of embarrassment. It’s not something I do. like to do, nor the image that I also want to give.”
Félix Lebrun has a “champion” mentality according to his trainer
After long minutes of waiting and stress, and while his brother Alexis also played his quarter-final (won 4-1), the youngest of the Lebrun brothers can finally breathe. If he loses the points acquired in his singles tournament, he will be able to play the men’s doubles final with Alexis on Sunday (4:10 p.m.). On the other hand, he must reimburse the part of the screen which was damaged after his gesture of humor.
“The most important thing is that we can play tomorrow. I was tense compared to Alex, to the French team. It’s normal that decisions were made. I’m happy to be able to play the doubles”, said -he concluded.
For his part, his trainer Nathanael Molin reminded that “it is not a gesture to make”, but remains pedagogical with his foal. “He did it and he has to deal with it. A referee was very understanding. I’m not going to go over it again. He scared himself by himself. He’s going to talk about it with his family. Félix is a champion, he will bounce back.”
Félix Lebrun could still console himself by trying to win the European doubles title on Sunday, alongside his older brother. Facing them will be a formidable Swedish pair, Anton Kallberg and Truls Moregard, both team silver medalists at the Paris Olympic Games.
AS with Léna Marjak, in Linz (Austria)
