Table tennis: irresistible, Félix Lebrun reaches the semi-final in Singapore

Félix Lebrun poursuit sa route à Singapour. XinHua – Yang Shiyao

Le pongiste montpelliérain, 6e joueur mondial, poursuit son ascension au plus haut niveau, à moins de quatre mois des JO.

French table tennis player Félix Lebrun qualified for the semi-finals of the Singapore Smash, the equivalent of a Grand Slam tournament in tennis, by beating the Indian on Friday Sharath Kamal Achanta four sets to one (11-9, 11-2, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8).

Lebrun, 17 years old and 6th player in the world, logically dominated the Indian veteran (41 years old, 88th in the world), from the qualifications and surprise guest of the quarters of this Grand Smash, in an almost one-sided encounter .

The French prodigy will have a lot to do on Saturday in the semi-final (from 12:45 p.m. Paris time), where he will face the formidable Chinese world No.2 Wang Chuqin, who had him crushed three rounds to zero in the World Team Final, lost by France at the end of February.

Last Frenchman still in the running

Wang Chuqin, 23, was pushed around in the first set of his quarter before gaining the upper hand over German Dang Qiu, 10th in the world, by winning four sets at an 8-11 , 11-1, 13-11, 11-7, 13-11.

in The other semi-final will pit the Chinese Liang Jingkun (5th) against the Taiwanese Lin Yun-Ju (8th).

Félix Lebrun is the last French representative still competing in the Singapore Smash, his older brother Alexis having been knocked out in the first round by Chinese world No.3 Ma Long.

Thursday, the Lebrun brothers together in doubles were eliminated in the quarter-finals.