Full box! The French team will send four pairs, two for the men, two for the women, to the stadium built on the Champ de Mars, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. Twice more than the quota of invitations that France had as the organizing nation of the Olympic Games.
If on the women’s side, the second ticket had been obtained thanks to the results collected since 2023 by the French n°1, Alexia Richard and Lézana Placette, the men’s sector doubled its representation by winning the final of the Nations Cup, contested from Thursday to Sunday in Latvia and which only issued a single Olympic ticket.
The Blues successively beat Germany and Lithuania in the pools, Belgium in the quarter-finals, Portugal in the semi-finals and Austria in the final. The Austrians won the first match, by Timo Hammarberg and Moritz Pristauz against Rémi Bassereau and Julien Lyneel (28-30, 21-17, 15-11), before the new pair Arnaud Gauthier-Rat – Téo Rotar managed to reverse the situation in two stages.
Téo Rotar scored points
They first equalized by beating Christoph Dressler and Philipp Waller after a very close match (19-21, 21-19, 12-15). Then they won the tie-break by leading from start to finish against Hammarberg and Pristauz (15-10). Next step now: find out which four French pairs will be fielded at the Olympics.
On the men’s side, five “beachers” are vying for the four places. The Lyneel-Bassereau pair, coming from indoor, has a good chance of being selected. But who will accompany Arnaud Gauthier-Rat. The experienced Youssef Krou, his usual partner, injured this week, or the young Téo Rotar, whose promotion to the Nations Cup was a great success? The decision will be made by the DTN and must be taken on Friday June 21.
