Table tennis, Saudi Smash: Alexis Lebrun comes close to the feat, Simon Gauzy courageous but powerless, the two men eliminated from the start

Alexis Lebrun affrontait l’ancien numéro un mondial au premier tour du Saudi Smash. XinHua – Yang Shiyao

Le Toulousain Simon Gauzy s’est fait sortir par le numéro un mondial Wang Chuqin, tandis qu’Alexis Lebrun a été éliminé par l’Allemand Dimitrij Ovtcharov, ce samedi 4 mai, au premier tour du Saudi Smash.

A particular scent floated in the air this Saturday. In the first round of the Saudi Smash, one of the biggest tournaments of the year, Toulouse's Simon Gauzy (23rd in the world) and Montpellier's Alexis Lebrun (32nd) entered the fray. The two teammates in the French team are "adversaries" remotely for several months to seek Olympic qualification and support Félix Lebrun (6th in the world).

Gauzy opened the ball at 6:05 p.m., just half an hour before the Lebruns' big brother. He faced the Chinese world number one, Wang Chuqin. Despite great resistance, the Frenchman was unable to hold on and is already heading home. He lost 3-0 (11-3, 12-10, 11-9).

Not far for Alexis Lebrun

At 6:30 p.m., it was Alexis's turn. Long ahead of Gauzy in the world rankings, the Montpellier native fell behind. With Gauzy's defeat, he had the opportunity to score points.

His opponent of the day: the German Dimitrij Ovtcharov (11th in the world, ex-number 1). The feat did not go far. Even though he led 2 sets to 1, Alexis Lebrun lost in his turn. Final score: 3-2 (10-12, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7). The experience of the German, clever in key moments and capable of slowing down the pace when Alexis was picking up in the last set, made the difference.

Félix Lebrun enters the fray this Sunday, May 5, at noon, against Kazakh Kirill Gerassimenko (27 years old).