Table tennis: big performance for Alexis Lebrun in Taiyuan who takes out the 11th in the world in the round of 16

Alexis Lebrun won in the round of 16 in Taiyuan. Midi Free – DORIAN CAYUELA

Alexis Lebrun (35th in the world) faced the Chinese Lin Shidong (11th in the world) this Friday, May 24 in the round of 16 of the WTT Contender in Taiyuan.

After having experienced great difficulty in taking out the South Korean Seungmin Cho (66th in the world) in the first round (victory 3 sets to 2) , Alexis Lebrun faced an opponent of a completely different caliber this Friday. The Chinese Lin Shidong, 11th in the world, stood in the way of the 20-year-old Montpellier. An old acquaintance for Alexis, who was tripped against this same opponent in the World Cup a month ago.

Super content, c’était un match très dur, j’ai eu un niveau de jeu fluctuant mais avec de très bons passages 

J’ai réussi à m’en sortir ! 🙌

Hâte d’aller chercher une petite revanche demain à 13 h 45 heure française (19 h 45 heure locale ) contre LIN Shidong 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/BdGmKvCdyP

— Alexis Lebrun (@AlexisLebrun15) May 24, 2024

The pressure has been great on the eldest of the Lebrun brothers for several weeks, he who is not certain of playing in the singles event of the Olympic Games.

Also read: Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Alexis Lebrun or Simon Gauzy at the Olympic Games: we explain the table tennis selection procedures

4 sets at 1

He managed to overcome it against someone better ranked than him this Friday! The Frenchman won 3-1 (12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4) thanks to an impressive defense, like this fiery point in the third set at 7 -6.

In the quarter-final, he will face the Taiwanese Cheng-jui Kao, 32nd in the world. An opponent that Alexis already won on March 28 (3-1) in Incheon in South Korea.