Zhou Qihao (Photo WTT)
For the second year in a row, Felix Lebrun has crashed out of WTT Champions Montpellier in the Round of 16, this time losing 11-7, 9-11m 8-11, 7-11 to Zhou Qihao.
At last year’s event, Lebrun’s defeat came at this stage to another Frenchman in Simon Gauzy, and just as he did 12 months ago, the 20-year-old made a lively start to this match, setting up four Game Points to take the opener.
Lebrun kept the scoring run going into game two, building a 3-0 lead as he threatened to put Zhou away in a matter of minutes, but the WTT Star Contender Doha 2026 champion was here to spoil the party and hit five in a row to take the lead, and from there, he didn’t look back.
Game three was extremely nervy as these two traded one-point leads right up to 8-8. The final moments of the third were a question of who would blink first, and despite having thousands of fans in Sud de France ARENA singing his name, it was Lebrun, and Qihao pounced, hitting three in a row to go 2-1 up.
Lebrun now had to go full throttle, but he wasn’t able to find the level he needed, and despite going up 3-4, Qihao scored seven from a possible eight for five match points. It would have been the show the fans deserved in Infinity ∞ Arena if Lebrun could pull it back, and the noise got louder and louder as he saved the first, then the second and then the third match Point, but that was all he could muster as defeat was confirmed.
Liang Jingkun broke the hearts of thousands of French as the Chinese veteran came back from two games down to eliminate Simon Gauzy 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8.
Before this match, these two had stood across the table from each other six times, and if Gauzy was going to beat Jingkun for the first time, the opening game would play a crucial role, not only in building the Frenchman’s confidence, but also in allowing that home crowd to be like an extra person in his corner.
At 9-9 in game one, Gauzy pulled ahead at the best possible time, scoring on his first of two serves from way behind the table and then drawing first blood with a quick-fire combo.
These two played some exhilarating stuff in game two; both players fired from deep, and Gauzy even pulled out a chop block when the ball was inches from the floor.
That point came in a run that saw Gauzy come back from 4-6 down, and even a time-out from the former World No. 2 could not stop his opponent’s momentum. Just like in the first, the 32-year-old started to shine as the game reached its crescendo, and he converted his second of two Game Points.
Gauzy was now one win away from beating Jingkun for the first time in seven attempts, just days after he upset Tomokazu Harimoto, and the crowd were in dreamland as a Mexican Wave flowed around Infinity ∞ Arena.
These two are known for producing spectacular matches against each other, with two of their previous WTT Champions matches going to five games, and they continued to put on a show, engaging in rallies where Gauzy returned looping shots from way behind the table, and Jingkun was firing rockets to set up four game points and get off the mark.
With the level of table tennis on display in this tie, no one would have complained if this one went the distance, but Gauzy was sublime and trying to make sure that didn’t happen, even diving to the floor to try and return shots when leading 2-6.
But another twist was on the horizon as Jingkun narrowed the gap to 5-7, causing Gauzy to use his time out. During that one-minute break, the noise inside the arena was deafening, and the umpire had to call “Time” five times before either player heard him.
Back at the table, Jingkun and Gauzy stayed level right up until 9-9, setting up a nail-biting finish to the fourth, and this time, it was the Chinese man who squeezed over the line to force a thrilling decider.
These two Wildcards had put on an absolute show, and now it was a race to 11 to see which of the two legends would progress to the quarterfinals.
Momentum was well and truly with Jingkun, and the 30-year-old stormed to a 5-0 lead. But nothing was going to silence these fans, and when Gauzy got one back, they were singing their hearts out, urging him on.
Unfortunately for all the French fans watching on, Jingkun continued progressing towards 11, and at 7-3, it looked like that was that. Gauzy was desperate now, and he threw everything at Jingkun, managing to close the gap at 8-9, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Gauzy’s exit was confirmed when Jingkun benefited from the ball clipping the edge, prompting a muted and apologetic handshake that was not deserving of the 48 minutes of pure cinema we had just watched unfold.
Just hours after witnessed Vladimir Sidorenko eliminate World No.1 Sora Matsushima, the best women’s singles player on the planet, Wang Manyu, has crashed out of the event, suffering a straight-games loss to Chen Yi 13-11, 11-8, 11-9.
Heading into this tie, Chen Yi had only recorded one win over her compatriot, which came at this stage of WTT Champions Yokohama 2025, where the 22-year-old was 2-0 down and saved three match points in the decider.
Things were much more straightforward for Chen Yi in this one, as the United States Smash 2025 finalist’s biggest hurdle in the match was a 7-9 comeback, before dropping game point and saving Manyu’s to take game one.
From there, it was plain sailing for Chen Yi, who stormed to a 5-1 lead in the second. After a brief resurgence from Wang, where she closed the gap to 8-5, Chen Yi triggered a time out and could be seen talking to herself on the bench, and she was able to reestablish that comfortable lead when she returned and doubled her advantage.
One game away from becoming the first women’s singles seed to fall in Montpellier, and exit a WTT Champions event in the Round of 16 for only the second time in her career, many would have expected Manyu to throw everything at her opponent and at least get one game back. But the World No.1 made the worst possible start, as Chen Yi raced to a 7-3 lead.
Manyu managed to claw the score back to 7-7, but Chen Yi scored an important point at 8-7 to stop the rot and then served her way to victory.
Hina Hayata secured her spot in the quarterfinals with a 11-8, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6 win over Bernadette Szocs. While Hayata was largely in control for most of the match, she will need to step her game up if she is to beat Sun Yingsha next, as the Japanese player allowed the Romanian back into the match with several unforced errors in game three, including two service faults.
One of the matches of the day unfolded between Kuai Man and Adriana Diaz as the second session of the day got underway, as the Chinese No.5 seed survived a stunning comeback 11-4, 11-2, 12-10, 12-10, 2-11.
