French table tennis players failed to shake up the best team in the world in the quarter-finals
The French men’s table tennis team, made up of Simon Gauzy, Emmanuel Lebesson and Alexandre Cassin, was eliminated 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament by China, which lined up the top three in the world, Monday in Tokyo.
In the first match, the doubles, the Ma Long / Xu Xin pair made short work of Lebesson and Cassin, 3-0.
But in the next single, French No.1 Simon Gauzy resisted Fan Zhendong, taking two sets from him in a very high level match (3-2) played in the majestic Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium where many encouragement and applause resounded.
Last French podium in 2000
The last single, between Xu Xin and Lebesson, was cut short, the Niortais never succeeding in worrying his opponent (3-0).
It was the last chance for the French table tennis selection, the women’s team made up of Prithika Pavade, Stéphanie Loeuillette and Jia Nan Yuan, having been eliminated in the morning, in the round of 16, by Singapore 3-0.
The last Olympic podium of the Tricolores in table tennis dates back to the Sydney Olympics in 2000, with the bronze reported in doubles by Jean-Philippe Gatien and Patrick Chila.
