Who is Felix Lebrun, the French ping-pong genius and the only European who holds a racket like a pen?

Felix is ​​the youngest in the Lebrun family. From the height of his 16 years (September 17 to 12), this young Montpellier occupies the place of the first French player in the world table tennis ranking, 15th overall. He won the title from his older brother Alexis, the reigning French champion, after winning the gold medal at the European Games at the end of June in Krakow, Poland, his first major international title.

Among the Lebruns, ping-pong is a family affair: Father Stéphane Lebrun was No. 7 in France and Uncle Christophe Legout was No. 14 in the world. Dominique’s mother and two sisters are also active in the club. “I’ve been playing ping-pong since I was three,” says Felix, who was in Montpellier on August 18.

“This year I spent 250 days abroad”

“First I was coached by my father and then from the age of seven by my own coach. Since I had good potential, I left CM1 for sports studies without waiting for the sixth grade, ”he adds.

As he prepares to enter freshman year this year, the young racket prodigy will now continue his studies partly remotely. If his level has risen since he joined the profession two years ago, his presence in the classroom, on the contrary, has become much less frequent. “This year I spent 250 days abroad for competition,” he justifies. Its completion, including a bachelor’s degree, will be extended over two years.

“Given the upcoming sporting events, it was too difficult to do everything at the same time,” he smiles. Among them is the 2024 Paris Olympics, which he doesn’t want to think too much about just yet. “Before that, there will be a lot of competition,” confirms the one who will be in Sweden in three weeks for the European Team Championship. As a budding Frenchman, he tries to keep his cool even when he receives a letter of congratulations and support signed by the President of the Republic!

He holds a racket like a Chinese

Practicing six hours a day, Felix Lebrun hones his technique to face the undisputed masters of his discipline: the Chinese: “They are the strongest, there is no argument here. There, ping-pong is a national sport, it is its own football. If they still dominate the discipline, we will do our best to challenge them. »

To achieve this, Felix does not hesitate to act on his own, adopting, for example, their way of holding a racket. It’s called a pen holder. As far as he knows, he is the only European player to accept it.

“The racket is held like a pen. My wrist is looser, which makes it easier for me to surprise my opponent. I discovered this while watching Chinese table tennis player Chen Jian, who came to train in Montpellier,” he explains. A technique that should carry him far and wide across the planet of ping pong, as Felix set out to pursue a career as a professional player before one day becoming a coach like his father.