'Pencil racket prodigy' makes Chinese table tennis suffer again

Felix Lebrun, the French player known as the "pencil prodigy" of contemporary table tennis, once again made the Chinese people fear him.

Felix Lebrun in the victory over Lin Shidong - Photo: WTT

At 19 years old, Felix Lebrun is considered one of the most promising players in the world of table tennis. He attracts attention with his vertical grip (hands along the racket handle) - a style that was thought to have been lost.

Emerging about 2 years ago, Lebrun has now entered the top of the world , with the 6th position in the world rankings. And at China Smash - the number one table tennis tournament in the Grand Smash group (similar to the Grand Slam system in tennis), Lebrun is shining brightly.

On the afternoon of October 5, Lebrun entered the semi-finals of the tournament - facing world number 2 player Lin Shidong.

2 years ago, it was also from the victory over Lin that Lebrun became known to the top table tennis community. And in the past 2 years, the two have met 3 times in total, with the score 2-1 in favor of Lebrun.

Lebrun's extremely annoying and explosive playing style seemed to be the nemesis of the meticulous style of the Chinese No. 2 player. Right in the first set, Lebrun stunned his opponent by winning 11-5.

Lin Shidong proved his potential as a player (he is only 20 years old) when he won 11-7, 11-6 in the next two games to lead 2-1.

From the 4th set, the two players showed that they were evenly matched, and Lebrun won narrowly with a score of 11-9.

Lebrun makes Chinese table tennis team regret again - Photo: CS

Under pressure from the home crowd, the French player played more and more explosively. He continuously made powerful loops and overwhelmingly defeated his Chinese opponent in the doubles.

In the next two games, Lebrun won 11-6, 11-6 to win 4-2 overall, thereby winning a ticket to the semi-finals.

It was painful for Chinese fans that this was the third home player to be defeated by Lebrun in this tournament. And it was even more painful because Lebrun's penhold grip was modeled after Xu Xin, the legend of Chinese table tennis.

Since Xu Xin left the top table tennis world, no one in China plays with the penhold grip anymore.

Lebrun's opponent in the final will also be a Chinese player - the current world number one, Wang Chuqin. The match will take place tonight.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/than-dong-vot-doc-lai-khien-bong-ban-trung-quoc-om-han-20251005153033575.htm