At the WTT Champions Frankfurt 2023 the 17-year-old French player Felix LEBRUN reached the quarterfinals after securing a straight games victory over Germany’s DANG Qui (8 9 8).
The two highest-ranked penhold grip players on the planet LEBRUN and QIU have faced each other five times so far and this marks LEBRUN’s second win.
“I did a lot of things better than in the last match against him when he won 4-2 at the World Championships. I watched that match so I tried to adjust my tactics a bit. It worked and I’m happy about this. I attempted to attack the first ball which led to my victory. That was the key for today. It’s very satisfying to compete in front of such a large crowd and for me it doesn’t matter whether they support me or my opponent. I also received some French support which was nice.”
In the quarterfinals LEBRUN will face LEE Sang Su: “I think he’s very strong because he recently defeated FAN Zhendong so I know it will be a tough match. However I believe I can win against LEE Sang Su because I previously won 3-1 against him. I will try to replicate that performance.”
QIU said “I was initially very disappointed because I was leading in the second and third games 5-1 in the second and 7-3 in the third. It’s quite rare for me to let such leads slip away. Essentially I wasn’t in as good form today as I was two days ago. I found it very challenging to get into the match and struggled with my own game in particular. It wasn’t so much about what he did but I was preoccupied with myself and missed many easy shots that I usually feel confident about. This struggle persisted throughout the entire match.”
