Simon Gauzy has pulled off one of the biggest upsets of his career, beating World No.3 Tomokazu Harimoto 15-13, 11-7, 11-6 in a stunning match in the opening round of WTT Champions Montpellier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gauzy has a track record of pulling off upsets here in Montpellier: last year, he beat his compatriot Felix Lebrun to advance to the quarterfinals. Once again, the 32-year-old was handed a huge task at his home event, as he would have to overcome a player he has never beaten before if he was to progress to the next round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Game one was an extremely tight affair, and Gauzy\u2019s 8-6 lead was the biggest advantage either player established in the opener before Harimoto went 8-10 up. But the sublime Frenchman did not crack under the pressure, saved three Game Points, and dropped two of his own, but still managed to land a heavy blow to go 1-0 up.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’m just so relieved to have played such a match in front of such a crowd for the first time. I mean, I told myself after so many losses against him, if I can do it, maybe it’s here. I was close at the Paris Olympics Team event for the bronze medal. I was once close to beating him in Doha as well. But I mean, he’s definitely a better player than me. So I have nothing but respect for him. He’s travelling all over the world, fighting for every title, winning many titles. And yeah, to finally beat him is something that I can say to my kids when I’m done because he’s one of the greatest,” said Gauzy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French veteran continued to be a thorn in Harimoto\u2019s side, riding that game one momentum to a 4-2 lead in the second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we started to see glimpses of how dangerous Harimoto can be, with the No.3 seed smashing forehands from as close to the table as he could get. Gauzy, however, was equal to everything, returning high looping shots and forcing his Japanese opponent to miss the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These two have played each other five times across all international competitions, and Harimoto has won all of them, but Gauzy set up four Game Points and converted the second to move to within touching distance of the Round of 16 and send the crowd in Sud de France ARENA into a frenzy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those fans inside Infinity \u221e Arena had seen Flavien Coton drop a two-game lead to Jang Woojin in the earlier session, and then witnessed Hitomi Sato take down Prithika Pavade. They were desperate to see one of their players pull off an upset, and Wildcard Gauzy was complying, going 3-1 up in the third, forcing Harimoto to call a Time Out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite that short break, Harimoto could not slow down the Gauzy runaway train, who rode a five-point lead home, cueing a deafening cheer from the crowd, as the WTT Contender Almaty 2026 champion secured the biggest win of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fans inside Infinity \u221e Arena were treated to another crazy five-game match after that one, but it was not the ending they were looking for, as home favourite Alexis Lebrun lost 11-9, 11-4, 12-14, 7-11, 9-11 to Patrick Franziska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lebrun looked like he was in cruise control in this one, hitting seven points in a row in the second as he attempted to get the job done in a matter of minutes. Victory seemed inevitable when he was leading throughout the third but dropped two Match Points, and then another two in the deuce game to give Franziska a lifeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was the only invitation the German needed, and he then went up 4-0 in the fourth before the fifth five-game match of the day was confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Game five was intense, as neither player was able to get a convincing hold of it, but the fans still showed their appreciation when a 22-shot rally went Franziska\u2019s way, and the Saudi Smash 2024 finalist saw out the win.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two five-game epics opened proceedings in the women’s singles competition as China\u2019s Kuai Man fended off a never-say-die performance from Anna Hursey 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12 and Zhou Qihao came back from two games down to beat Oh Junsung 5-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two games down and trailing 8-4 in the third, all signs pointed to an early exit for Hursey against Kuai, but the Welsh No.1 dug deep and hit seven winners in a row to narrow the deficit to just one game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 20-year-old still had a mountain to climb, though, but she continued her scoring run into the fourth game, where she led 4-6 before a resurgence from Kuai saw the 22-year-old lead 8-7, forcing Hursey to call a Time Out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That brief break, when Hursey\u2019s coach told his young charge to keep believing, didn\u2019t have an immediate impact as Kuai took the first point, but with those words of encouragement still ringing in her ears, she hit four in a row to force a decider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hursey was back at the table early for the final game, but things didn\u2019t go her way in the early exchanges. In rallies where she was dominating and forcing Kuai away from the table, the World No.5 still found ways to quickly switch it up, pouncing on the smallest of openings to wrong-foot her opponent and build a 7-5 lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Hursey would not give up, and she kept fighting in a desperate attempt to stay in Montpellier for at least another round, and her hard work paid off, as she levelled at 9-9, but was ultimately unable to convert her only Match Point and seal the biggest win of her career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that match, Kuai\u2019s compatriot Zhou looked set to exit WTT Champions Montpellier 2026 within minutes, as China Smash men\u2019s doubles champion Oh blitzed through the opening two games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things got even worse for Zhou, who fell behind 1-5 in the third game, but the China Smash semifinalist finally showed up to take his first game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was all Zhou, who is competing at only his fifth WTT Champions event, needed, and he didn\u2019t fall behind once in those final two games to break Oh\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Annett Kaufmann\u2019s phenomenal 2026 has taken another huge step forward, as the German beat Satsuki Odo at WTT Champions Montpellier in a gripping five-game thriller 11-5, 9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WTT Champions Montpellier is the first time Wildcard Kaufmann has competed at this level outside of Frankfurt, but leading up to the event, the German has been in fantastic form, beating Zhu Yuling at Europe Smash – Sweden 2026, making the quarterfinals at WTT Contender Almaty and finishing as runner-up at the European Table Tennis Championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the 20-year-old certainly lived up to the occasion of her first WTT Champions event on foreign soil, taking the opening game against the WTT Champions Frankfurt 2025 winner with ease.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite that early dominance, it looked like the match might be getting away from Kaufmann after she saved six game points in the third, coming back from 5-10 down, but she still ended up going 2-1 down in the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Showcasing great mental resolve, Kaufmann dusted herself off and hit five winners in a row in the fourth to come from behind and set up a decider. Trailing 3-5 in the final game, Kaufmann then won the match in style, hitting eight from a possible 10 to secure a historic win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Simon Gauzy has pulled off one of the biggest upsets of his career, beating World No.3 Tomokazu Harimoto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-17170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-table-tennis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t