Félix Lebrun eliminated in the round of 16 of the World Table Tennis Championships

Félix Lebrun was eliminated on Thursday, May 22, in the round of 16 of the singles at the World Table Tennis Championships in Doha, beaten in a tiebreaker by Korean An Jaehyun, ranked ^17th in the world (4-3). The 18-year-old Frenchman, world number 6, will now have to settle for the doubles, where he and his brother Alexis will try to reach the semi-finals on Friday. To do so, they will have to overcome the Swedish pair Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson to ensure at least a bronze medal in these World Championships.

On Thursday, in a tense encounter, the Montpellier player was pushed into the deciding set by An Jaehyun, who then pulled away. And while Félix Lebrun tried to erase four match points in his opponent's favor, managing to come back to 9-10, it was the Korean who had the final word: 12-10, 9-11, 12-14, 11-7, 14-12, 6-11, 9-11.

In the women's draw, there are also no more French players in Doha. Prithika Pavade, world number 26, lost on Thursday to the very versatile Wang Yidi. The 30-year-old Chinese player, who is ranked ^4th in the world rankings, was more accurate on serve, uncompromising in return and in rallies, and left only crumbs to her opponent, ten years her junior (11-7, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8).

It's also over for Simon Gauzy, who was defeated 4-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8) by the world number 2, the Chinese Wang Chuqin, after a delightful encounter. The world ^number 43, with a determined look as he entered table 1 at the Lusail Arena, made a successful start to the match, providing – as usual – some spectacular rallies thanks to his ball-playing skills in defense. Winning the first two sets, he sowed doubt in the mind of his opponent, who had not lost a set in the competition so far (2-0).

Buoyed by the Chinese supporters, Wang Chuqin then found the resources to raise his level of play and come back to level (2-2), despite a combative Simon Gauzy, who was very close to making him falter in the fourth set. The fifth set escaped him due to too many unforced errors (2-3). "Simon the emotions" , as he is nicknamed in the French team, conceded defeat in a close sixth set while his rival found the best of his forehand.

The French pair Florian Bourrassaud and Esteban Dorr, world number 4, once again challenged the Spanish-Romanian duo Alvaro Robles and Ovidiu Ionescu, vice-world champions in 2019.