VIDEO. Alexis Lebrun wins in the semi-final and joins his brother Félix in the final of the French Table Tennis Championships where he will defend his title

Lebrun ended up getting out in the semi-final. FREE NOON – Dorian Cayuela

Alexis Lebrun won in the semi-final of the French Table Tennis Championships, Sunday March 24 at the FDI Stadium in Montpellier, against Can Akkuzu after a big fight (11-5, 10 -12, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9) and joins his little brother Félix in the final where he will defend his title.

As in the other semi-final of this men's singles table of the French Table Tennis Championships, it took seven sets to determine Félix Lebrun's opponent in the final.

Il y aura un duel Lebrun en finale !

Fin de match surpuissante d'Alexis Lebrun contre Can Akkuzu (4-3).

Finale prévue à 17h ! pic.twitter.com/TAZ5cxiRid

— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) March 24, 2024

And as in 2023, the duel for the title will therefore oppose the two Lebrun brothers since’Alexis (seeded N.2) managed to beat Can Akkuzu (N.4) after a big fight once again.

The eldest of the Lebrun brothers will therefore have the chance to retain his title of French champion, acquired last year against his brother. More information to come…

Two offensive players

To start his semi-final, Alexis Lebrun first pocketed the first set (11-5), before seeing the 2019 French champion react immediately. The Alsatian player actually managed to get into good conditions at 10-5… before seeing Lebrun come back to level at 10-10. But thanks to a winning service then a fault on the Montpellier's serve, Akkuzu equalized at 1-1 (10-12).

Unlike the other semi-final, the rhythm was a little absent from the match, due to the very offensive profile of the two men. Lebrun still took the third round, notably thanks to good serves and a few counterattacks (2-1, 11-5). Akkuzu didn't give up and quickly caught up with his opponent (2-2, 4-11).

Crazy end of match

The rest of the match would be much closer afterwards. In the fifth set, Lebrun made his forehand do the talking again to win a narrow set (3-2, 11-8) before losing 8-11 in the fourth, sending both men to a decisive set .

And the eldest Lebrun thought he had done the hard part by leading 9-5 in this seventh set. But that was without taking into account a brawling Akkuzu, who managed to equalize at 9-9 on a huge counter-attack. Which the Montpellier native immediately returned with a magnificent backhand on the counter as well. Before concluding the deal at 11-9 to offer himself a magnificent duel against his little brother.