(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld)

In the first match of the day, France’s Alexis Lebrun advanced by providing the biggest upset of the tournament.  World No. 30, Alexis Lebrun has defeated World No. 3 Liang Jingkun 3-2.  Lebrun won the first game, but then quickly lost the next two.  After finding himself down 1-2, he managed to fight from behind in each of the final games to claim the 3-2 win (9, -4, -9, 10, 10).  Lebrun is now through to the Final 8 where he will face Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju.  Alexis Lebrun was the top junior in the world in the rankings before turning 19 this year, but this giant step is a year or two ahead of what was expected.  France has a number of promising players in the pipeline – including another Lebrun as little brother Felix is quickly rising in the rankings.

Lots of quality table tennis on tap all week long – we’ll have more updates soon.

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