Table Tennis

The French men’s table tennis team easily defeated the United States in the sixteenth round of the World Championships in London and will face Portugal or Egypt in the next round.

It was a formality! The sixteenth round of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in London favored France over the United States, with no suspense. Three matches and only 80 minutes in total were enough for the French team to qualify for the men’s competition round of 16, and Alexis Lebrun didn’t even need to enter the OVO Arena in Wembley. It was 18-year-old Flavien Coton who had the responsibility to kick off for the Blues. And the 18-year-old, ranked 23rd in the world, was the only one to lose a set, against the 29th-ranked Kanak Jha. He eventually triumphed in four sets: 13-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9.

F.Lebrun and Gauzy were impressive Felix Lebrun, ranked 4th globally, then stepped in to challenge the 190th-ranked Jishan Liang. It was a clear victory of 11-5, 11-1, 11-3 for the double Olympic medalist. Simon Gauzy (19th) then closed the deal against Sid Naresh (131st), winning 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 without a hitch. Gauzy from Toulouse was understandably satisfied when sharing his thoughts with the organizer: “Our team is strong and deep. We have five players in the Top 25 in the world. It’s tough to earn a spot, you have to play well. We knew that even with our number 3 and 4 players, we had a good chance today against the USA. We are contenders for the title, our chances are real, but I’m sure China will not easily give up their title, even if they lost matches in the group stage.”

The opponent will be known on Tuesday The French team can now calmly await the match on Tuesday between Portugal and Egypt, as the winner will be France’s opponent in the round of 16. Neither of these two countries has a player in the Top 30 globally. The ticket to the quarterfinals is likely to land in the French bag. The French will also keep an eye on Tuesday’s women’s sixteenth-round match between France and Switzerland.