Paris Olympics: Can Félix Lebrun Win The Men's Singles?

correction* the final is on Sunday 4th August
He's only 17 and will be coming up against the juggernaut that is China, but is there a chance Felix Lebrun can win the men's singles table tennis at the Paris Olympics?

[@vv_vigo1239]

I think hugo and tomokazu are the two biggest threats to the chinese, I don’t think felix can beat wang and fan just yet but then again he is just 17

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@vv_vigo1239 Hugo and Tomokazu are fantastic players, but Felix in France? Are the stars aligning? Maybe it's the romantic in me. It could be too soon in his career though as you say, he is still so young.

[@yongdeng1813]

@@TableTenniswithAsh no,felix is really good and he has as good a chance to beat the chinese as any other players. Hugo has no chance to beat the chinese, his style is too easy for the chinese to counter. The japanese dude is mentally too weak and i wont count on him either.

[@olissime01]

​@@yongdeng1813What are talking about ? Hugo has already beaten FZD whereas Fekix has never beaten the top chinese...

[@yongdeng1813]

@@olissime01 lol some rec player wanna talk about how he beat him once and shyt man shut your pipe, the only players can beat the chinese who play shakehand style are asians. Now u have learn something and say thank you

[@messi2semapelido]

@@olissime01 yeah, i dont think Feliz can beat 2 Chineses in the same championship now. Maybe in future, but seens impossible to me.

[@PanchoGDMKWii]

The chinese already understood both alexis and felix styles and adapted (see the latest matches) so if Felix wants to win, he has to offer something new to the chinese like what Michael Maze did in the WTTC 2005.

[@CalvinAytch]

Unless they put Hao Shuai back in for the Chinese team, I don't see what is so new and surprising that the Chinese won't be prepared for it.

[@PanchoGDMKWii]

@@CalvinAytch I hope they do, a big additional example is Ryu Seung Min in the 2004 Olympics, he brought a new service that wasnt seen in his past matches since the start of his career, and that new serve was brutal.

[@zeyohart]

Felix played against Wang Chuqin in Finals Doha this year, if I remember correctly. However, the tournament was part of the 2023 series...

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@zeyohart yes he did. I missed this one too! 3-1 to WCQ but it looked competitive

[@PanchoGDMKWii]

Last time was on the WTTTC finals, Wang Chuqin destroyed felix in every set, 3-0

[@CalvinAytch]

Realistically, I don't believe he has a chance, but I'm still hoping for him to do well because table tennis needs more penhold players. There's a certain elegance to the style that doesn't come from shakehand and I'm shakehand player myself.

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@CalvinAytch yeah, penhold is something unique to table tennis that other racket sports don't have. Elegance is the right word for it too!

[@traytyler9951]

Biggest problem is the Chinese teams ability to adapt, there is a reason rising stars do good against them early but stop as they get older, these people don’t get worse they are better players but as time goes on China simply figures them out completely

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@traytyler9951 it is amazing and a little scary how well China does this!

[@Drobb19]

Hugo beats Felix 4:0

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@Drobb19 he did but I've got a feeling Felix will do well in Paris. I could also be very wrong. I would love to see Hugo have a great Olympics too

[@ouechmaggle992]

Hugo beat Felix once, Felix beat Hugo twice. One time 3-0.

[@Drobb19]

@@ouechmaggle992 No. Hugo also beats Felix twice: 3:0 and 4:0

[@ouechmaggle992]

@@Drobb19 If you're right, that only means they are even. But when did Hugo beat Felix 3-0? I watched the most recent victory of hugo, a month ago, but I've never heard of the other one. By the way, Felox is above Hugo in the rankings. How do you explain that?

[@Drobb19]

​@@ouechmaggle992Hugo defeated Felix 2 times: 1 time was at Wtt Champions Incheon 2024, where Hugo won 3:0 in the quarterfinals, 2 times was 3 weeks ago, where Hugo won 4:0 in the final. Regarding the fact that Felix is ​​higher in the rating, he is only 42 rating points higher than Hugo

[@iversonbahiwag1295]

Alexis has higher percentage winning against Chinese than felix, it will be a victory if Felix will have bronze

[@noah7477]

If he can get silver, then that's good enough. However, this is also extremely unlikely.

[@vinhziger6968]

Only Benedek Olah can beat the chinese 👾

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@vinhziger6968 What a beast of a player!

[@JassaTableTennis]

i think alexis has a way higher chance of beating the chinese compared to felix his game is just more complete

[@arlentan]

Felix did play Fan again in the mixed team world cup which Fan won but was very closely contested by Felix. Final score was 2-1

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@arlentan ah okay, missed this one. I suppose it wasn't best of 5 or 7 games, but all good experience. Thanks!

[@FCJ14]

Isn't the finals women's 3rd august and mens 4th august ? sat sun? Also felix has played Fan twice, they had an amazing set in the team world cup.

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@FCJ14 it is 3rd and 4th now! This must have changed (or I can't read which is possible) 😭

[@olissime01]

Alexis is way more likely to beat the best chinese than Felix.

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

Alexis is great but Felix has the x factor I could be way off though!

[@olissime01]

@@TableTenniswithAsh no offense my friend, you're indeed way off. Felix is great, don’t get me wrong, he is not 5th in the world for no reason and we, french people, are really gifted to experience such a talented generation. The main weakness of Felix though, is his lack of power that unfavors him against top players such as FZD, WCQ, even ML and Hugo.

[@jonathanhansson804]

Both European penholders have a chance to win of course. Maybe 5-7%, very slim, but say that they get to the finals and we replay the match 20 times, surely they win 1 or 2

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@jonathanhansson804 yes, it's a small chance but not impossible Hopefully it happens!

[@JassaTableTennis]

closer to 1%

[@PraisePrayPeace]

Felix fighting alexis fighting Hugo fighting Lin Yun Ju Fighting

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@PraisePrayPeace that's a lot of fighting!

[@alexismamadou2193]

Dream Final would be Felix vs Hugo. Wang vs Tomokazu for 3rd place 🥉 🎉

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@alexismamadou2193 that would be a beautiful Olympics!

[@frsfthg9212]

Are u mad? He cant even beat his Brother.

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

Let's hope he doesn't come up against Alexis then!

[@PanchoGDMKWii]

Felix has way better results to the foreigners compared to Alexis, the reason why Felix loses to his brother is just because Alexis knows his style better than anyone (They are brothers after all!!)

[@frsfthg9212]

@@PanchoGDMKWii i am aware, but against top chinese felix is just helpless.

[@24ghosh24]

Too much of an ask.

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

Probably the case

[@minukesis]

You know so little about table tennis. I understand your preference but this video is pointless.

[@minukesis]

Why Felix is good: He is so good at finding ways to attack, with good quality and not many unforced errors. His consistency is great, meaning that he is not likely to play at a horrible level in a game. Why Felix can't beat top Chinese players(at least at this point): two temporarily unsolvable weaknesses, one is his short ball control, and the other is protecting his forehand in long rallies.

[@minukesis]

The same reasons apply to why he lost to Hugo. Felix relies heavily on counter attacking. Against top Chinese players or Hugo Calderano, this technique doesn't work.

[@TableTenniswithAsh]

@@minukesis a scathing review!

[@ouechmaggle992]

@@minukesis So how come Felix beat Hugo twice?

[@minukesis]

@@ouechmaggle992 if you watch the recent games of hugo you'll notice his style changed a lot. Hugo became more aggressive near the table-that's roughly why Felix no longer can beat him.