(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
The two top seeds fell out in earlier rounds, and Alexis Lebrun took advantage as he fought through for 3-2 wins in both the Quarters and Semis before dominating 4-1 in the Final of the WTT Contender Series event that took place in Zagreb last week. The elder Lebrun brother doubled up by also taking the top prize in Doubles with partner Simon Gauzy. Alexis Lebrun is currently World No. 30 and the 400 ranking points attached to this victory should bring him well into the Top 20.
The second seed, Jang Woojin fell to countryman An Jaehyun 3-2 in the Quarterfinals and top seeded Tomokazu Harimoto lost to Shunsuke Togami in the Semifinals. Alexis Lebrun didn’t have an easy path for his seeding, facing Lee Sang Su, and An Jaehyun before taking Shunsuke Togami in the Final, but he did avoid playing any of the top three tournament seeds. In Doubles, Alexis teamed with Simon Gauzy, and after taking out the top seeds, Shinozuka and Togami, the Frenchmen rolled through the Finals with 3-1, 3-0, and 3-0 wins.
In Women’s Singles, Hina Hayata was the top seed and she won all five of her matches on the way to the top prize. She was down late against Miu Hirano in the Semis before coming back to win 3-2, and she then dominated in the Final with a 4-0 win over Miwa Harimoto. In Mixed Doubles, Hina Hayata won her second event, pairing with Tomokazu Harimoto (who teamed up with Hayata and not his sister Miwa).
The next WTT event is the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana in Slovenia. That event starts on Tuesday and will conclude next weekend. Felix Lebrun, Hugo Calderano, and Tomokazu Harimoto are the top three seeds in Slovenia.
Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.
