Young French player Felix LEBRUN reached the semifinals of the WTT Champions Frankfurt 2023. The 17-year-old penhold player overcame Korea’s LEE Sang Su with a 3-2 victory (8 -11 -6 12 8).
LEBRUN saved a match point in the fourth game. He was down 11-12 before making a comeback to win the match.
“This match was incredible. I’m so happy to win it because it was very challenging. I tried to focus on the match and stick to my tactics. I thought the ball hit his jersey but I will watch the video to confirm if I was right. I stopped playing at that moment which wasn’t the right thing to do. I think I’ve been in a flow for two weeks playing very well and I also performed excellently here in Frankfurt. It’s nice to play in this area. The French fans sang a song for me just like they did for Alexis at the European Championships and now for me. I’m thrilled about that ” said LEBRUN.
In the next round he will face China’s MA Long. MA defeated Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany in the quarterfinals (-7 -7 -7).
“Half of the rallies were at a very high level from both of us. That was top-level table tennis. I was absolutely at my limit and played extremely well. I just couldn’t maintain that level throughout the entire match. I allowed myself one or two easy mistakes somewhere. He didn’t make a single mistake throughout the whole match. I can’t remember him ever playing so well. He was very present. I always sensed that he was very hungry for every ball and was constantly motivating himself. You could really tell how important this match was to him.
In the past he used to dominate me in my serve and return game so I never found my way into the match. Now I have the feeling that we’re always in the match but he’s faster and fitter. I have to work hard on that. It was important to realize this as we head towards the Olympics ” said OVTCHAROV.
