Opposed to the Sarrebrück club, triple title holder, the Alliance Nîmes-Montpellier led by the Lebrun brothers was defeated in the final of the Champions League.
The Alliance Nîmes-Montpellier could not prevent Sarrebrück from winning a fourth title. Confident after their victory over Borussia Düsseldorf, the team led by Félix and Alexis Lebrun gave the defending champions a tough match, who were playing at home for this Final Four. The final started with a duel between the reigning Olympic champion, Fan Zhendong, and Alexis Lebrun. The Frenchman initially held his own against the Chinese player before taking the lead with a few brilliant strokes. He only needed one set ball to gain the upper hand. With his back against the wall, the Sarrebrück player began the second set with determination.
However, despite being four points behind, Alexis Lebrun did not give up, and managed to catch up and then take the lead in the exchange. He did not delay the chance to lead two sets to none. The scenario of the previous set repeated itself with Fan Zhendong raising the level against the Frenchman who initially defended before counter-attacking. He then needed only one match ball to give the advantage to Alliance Nîmes-Montpellier (11-6, 11-8, 11-9). Félix Lebrun then took the stage to face the world number 2 Truls Moregard, silver medalist at the Paris Games. The leader of the Hérault club started strongly, taking a four-point lead and then securing three game points.
Fan Zhendong not in form
The Swede managed to keep them at bay and, in a thrilling finish, gained the upper hand in the match. The second set saw the two players exchange blow for blow, with Félix Lebrun opting to take his time-out nearing the “money time” to refocus. However, he lacked sharpness on the two equalizing balls for the set which followed. Again, both players had the opportunity to win the set, but it was Truls Moregard who had the final say to make things more difficult. Caught off guard at the start of the third set, Félix Lebrun did not give up, but a lapse gave his opponent a clear advantage. However, after coming back to nine points each, the Olympic bronze medalist in singles had to concede defeat on the second match point (15-13, 15-13, 12-10).
Antoine Hachard then faced Darko Jorgic in the third match. Without fear, the player from Alliance Nîmes-Montpellier started strongly before falling back. The 14th in the ITTF rankings took the lead, not without difficulty when closing out the first set on the third occasion. The second set was completely in favor of the Slovenian, who only allowed four points to his opponent. With nothing to lose, Antoine Hachard showed great resistance but Darko Jorgic managed to extend the lead and the second match point was enough to give Sarrebrück the advantage (12-10, 11-4, 11-7).
The Lebrun brothers defeated by Moregard
When facing Fan Zhendong, Félix Lebrun could not afford any mistakes. Despite a slow start to the match, the world number 4 managed to bounce back and win the first set comfortably. After winning the next three points, the Montpellier player immediately took the lead in the second set. The Chinese player then managed to level the score and get a chance to equalize the sets. However, it was Félix Lebrun who had the last word to stay ahead in the match. The two players then exchanged blows in an intense third set. And the Frenchman managed to find the gap to take Sarrebrück to a decisive fifth match (11-6, 13-11, 11-8).
Alexis Lebrun then faced Truls Moregard to conclude this final. With eight out of nine of the first exchanges in his favor, the Swede started very strongly to win the first set comfortably. Although the Frenchman fought back, it was not enough to reverse the trend. The Olympic runner-up managed to secure a set closer to victory. Showing great determination, Alexis Lebrun found the right angles to put the Swede in difficulty. Point by point, he managed to extend the suspense by winning the fourth set. However, this did not last long. Finally making the difference, Truls Moregard defeated Alexis Lebrun (11-7, 11-5, 11-6) and allowed Sarrebrück to remain at the top of Europe.
