France’s shooting star Felix Lebrun: volcano on the plate

It wasn’t enough yet. The momentum was there, but in the end the world champion was just a touch too strong. The young Frenchman tried everything possible in the semi-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and the audience was enthusiastic and enthusiastic as one behind the local hero: But Fan Zhendong once again showed him quite clearly his limits. In the end it was 4-0 after sets; The final awaited Fan, which he also won against the Swede Truls Möregårdh, albeit with a little more effort.

Félix Lebrun, the young shooting star from the south of France, still won bronze in the game for third place against Hugo Calderano from Brazil. A huge success for the 17-year-olds at the time.

He is now 18 and something like the Boris Becker of French table tennis. The equivalent of winning Wimbledon is still missing. In Linz, where the European table tennis singles and doubles championships have been taking place since Tuesday, there is a unique opportunity for him: the Chinese are absent, as are the Japanese, Koreans, Iranians and Brazilians. Lebrun is already Europe’s number 1, at least unofficially: 7th in the world rankings as the best European. Only the big title, as I said, is still missing.

The European Games in Krakow have already won this year, as has the Star Contender in Mapusa (India), a high-ranking tournament from the International Table Tennis Association’s World Series series. If for some reason it doesn’t work out in Linz, there will be a home game waiting for him almost immediately afterwards, as there will be another “Champions” tournament in Montpellier from October 22nd. But the focus is of course clearly on Linz.

In Paris, up to 6,400 fans cheered him in the semi-finals and small final, and the number of registrations in French clubs has exploded, largely thanks to him.

Brother also at the top of the world

What’s special about the Frenchman isn’t so much his look, although people who wear glasses are rarely seen in elite sports. Some people think that Félix Lebrun is something like the Buddy Holly of table tennis; However, his nickname is simply “Féfé”, probably more because of his first name than because of the French rapper of the same name or the prison term for vagina.

The funny thing is that his older brother Alexis (Alex for short; also only 21), not quite as successful as him, but still number 19 in the world rankings, looks almost exactly the same: badger-blonde short haircut, horn-rimmed glasses. Brothers, stop.

Féfé’s highlight is not necessarily his appearance or the apparently intellectual touch that he brings to the record, but something else: he plays with the penholder grip. This somewhat old-school grip position seemed passé for a long time; not even the Chinese, long the leading nation in table tennis and the inventor of this grip position, still use it. Especially not the top five in the world rankings, all of which come from China.

Not even his brother uses it, he plays with the usual handshake grip. Félix Lebrun says that as a boy he liked the Chinese Chen Jian and copied the handle. Will this help this old technology make a widespread comeback?

Table tennis is a very technical sport, not only in terms of the racket but also the material. Rubbers, woods: a science in itself. Interestingly, his biggest competitor in Linz could come from the other side, Truls Möregårdh, the Olympic and World Cup silver medalist, plays with a hexagonal racket from Stiga, the newest of the newest.

Supposedly the safety is higher with the edge racket, and the hitting surface is also larger than with the usual rounded rackets. Lebrun against Möregårdh: It wouldn’t just be a dream final at the European Championships from this point of view.

It would also be a duel between clever guys and volcanoes. The clever one here would be the Swede, who likes to use unusual punches and annoy his opponents with enormous cuts. While Félix Lebrun plays hard and fast and a lot comes from emotion, as they say these days. Lebrun likes to have the audience behind him and he can push himself. However, he can sometimes get very frustrated when things don’t go well.