Table tennis: why Alexis Lebrun could lose his ticket for the Paris Olympic Games ?

Alexis Lebrun pourrait manquer l’épreuve simple en se faisant doubler par Simon Gauzy. Midi Libre – DORIAN CAYUELA

Le Montpelliérain Alexis Lebrun pourrait être privé d’une qualification en simple au tennis de table en voyant son compatriote Simon Gauzy lui passer devant au classement mondial dans les prochaines semaines, trois mois avant les Jeux Olympiques de Paris.

Being French champion by beating the fifth in the world in the final does not guarantee a place for the Olympic Games. Alexis Lebrun is under threat from Simon Gauzy, just three months before the Paris Olympics.

France has two places in singles due to its participation as a team, the choice of players is usually made according to the world ranking. "The two highest-ranked athletes from each National Olympic Committee with a team qualified via the world rankings in week 25 of 2024 (Tuesday, June 18) 2024) will be included on the list of qualifiers for the individual events." specifies the organization.

Félix Lebrun, currently fifth in the world, is almost guaranteed to be there, but we do not yet know the identity of the second player to accompany him in singles.

His big brother, Alexis Lebrun, 22nd, sees Simon Gauzy, 30th in the world, returning in his rearview mirror. Thanks to a ranking established over the last 12 months, Gauzy finds himself in a strong position in Montpellier.

Indeed, the eldest Lebrun will lose the points from April 2023 where he performed well, i.e. 525 points out of his total of 525 points. 1 068. Conversely, Toulouse's Simon Gauzy remains on a very good performance with his quarter-final at the WTT Champion in Incheon.

Two major tournaments to decide

With this trend, Gauzy should be ahead of Alexis Lebrun from April 23, three months before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The Toulousain would accumulate 915 units against 633 for the Montpellier.

The two players will have until June 18, the date on which the world ranking will be set to establish the list of qualified players, to reverse or confirm the trend. In the meantime, several tournaments are on the program including the Grand Smash in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of May, and the Chongqing Champions at the end of May.