The Lebrun brothers qualify for the quarter-finals of the men's doubles at the World Table Tennis Championships

And it's a success for the Lebrun brothers. Alexis, 21, and Félix, 18, booked their place in the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament at the World Table Tennis Championships on Wednesday, May 21, in Doha, defeating the Swedish pair of Anton Kallberg and Truls Moregard in four sets: 10-12, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5.

Withdrawn from the singles tournament due to pain in his right hand, still recovering from an injury sustained at the end of March, Alexis Lebrun played his part in this round of 16 match against the world number ^19. Truls Moregard was also expected to be impaired by pain in his right shoulder. After a few exchanges of observation, the Montpellier table tennis players started well into their match and quickly offered themselves two set points. But thanks to errors committed by a slightly tense Alexis Lebrun, the Swedes equalized before seizing the first set on the only set point they had.

Conquering in attitude, the Blues (who were playing in red) immediately raised their heads to equalize by pocketing the second set with a smash. While the eldest of the siblings regained all his mobility and precision, the French took control of the match. Anton Kallberg and Truls Moregard lost a challenge on a serve from Alexis Lebrun, then called a timeout, but the Blues remained focused.

With a little luck and a lot of determination, they won the third set. The momentum and success would remain on their side: a new challenge on another serve from Alexis Lebrun, in a state of grace with his forehand acceleration, finally got the Swedes out of their match. They won the point this time, but the French maintained control of the game to earn themselves five match points. The first was enough.

Despite Anton Kallberg's defensive efforts, the Lebrun brothers upheld the world rankings (they are ^{ranked 1st} ) in this remake of the final of the last European Championships in Linz, won by the Tricolores. In the quarterfinals on Thursday, May 22, they will face another Swedish pair: Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson, ranked 21st ⁱⁿ the world, to secure a medal.

Another French duo is still in the running in the tournament. Florian Bourrassaud and Esteban Dorr will play their round of 16 match this Wednesday against Hong Kong's Baldwin Chan and Wong Chun Tin at 5:50 PM Paris time.

In the women's singles, Charlotte Lutz will challenge China's Sun Yingsha, world number 1, at 4:30 p.m., in the round of 16. "With my ranking, I have to play the qualifiers in competitions and I don't always get out of them. So I don't always have the opportunity to play such strong players," said the 20-year-old table tennis player, ranked ^92nd . The ticket to the round of 16 should be more accessible to Prithika Pavade, world ^number 20, who is due to meet Romania's Andreea Dragoman, ^125th , at 7:10 p.m. All matches are broadcast live on RMC Sport's Twitch and YouTube channels.