Alexis Lebrun stuns world no. 3 Liang in Macao at WTT Champions

When was the last time a French player upset China's table tennis hegemony? A fun quiz question, but wonder no more – 19-year-old Alexis Lebrun made himself part of the answer on Friday (21 October) at the WTT Champions Macao 2022, seeing off the world number 3 Liang Jingkun.

The 19-year-old Lebrun has enjoyed a hugely successful year, rising to a career-high 29th in the world last month from a ranking of 1050th at the start of 2022. 

Along the way, he reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha (March), the round of 32 at the WTT Contender Zagreb and WTT Star Contender European Summer Series, the last-16 at the WTT Champions Budapest, the final of the WTT Contender Tunis, the last-16 at the European Championships, and the quarter-finals at the WTT Contender Muscat.

Now, Lebrun – whose 15-year-old brother Felix is also beginning to make waves – has claimed the biggest scalp yet of his career.

It was the Frenchman who hit the front first, winning the opener in the best-of-five-games round-of-16 encounter 11–9. The more experienced Liang hit back quick, taking the second game comfortably 11–4 and the third 11–9.

But Lebrun held strong and outlasted his more established opponent, taking the win 3–2 (11–9, 4–11, 9–11, 12–10, 12–10) in 42 minutes 51 seconds.