PARIS (Reuters) - China's men's table tennis team triumphed over host nation France with a 3-0 semi-final victory at the Paris Olympics on Thursday but the scoreline belied the closely contested matches that captivated a packed stadium of French and Chinese fans.
From the start, French duo Alexis Lebrun and Simon Gauzy put pressure on China's top players Ma Long and Wang Chuqin and got to an 11-11 tie, but the Chinese seized match point and took the game 13-11 and then the match 3-0 to reach the final against Sweden.
Lebrun's 17-year-old brother Felix, who had lost 4-0 to Fan Zhendong in the men's singles semi-finals, managed to switch things up when the two met again and play a better game. He kept it tied until 11-11 in the second game and took the third game 11-8.
In the fourth game, Felix delayed his opponent's victory as much as possible with some incredible saves, earning loud cheers. Eventually, Fan won 16-14, far beyond the usual 11 points required to win a game.
"I think today was our best performance. We lost 3-0 but we all played great today, so I hope we can play even better tomorrow," said Felix, whose team will face Japan in the bronze-medal match on Friday.
Alexis, 20, also played an impressive match against world number one Wang Chuqin, involving many spectacular lobs. He won multiple points by disrupting Wang's rhythm and forcing errors, taking the first game 11-7.
Wang then regained his footing and took three games in a row, limiting Alexis to just one point in the last game.
"His lobs were quite threatening and I became a bit anxious, worried that he might switch to an offensive play," said Wang. "I lost some patience but as the match went on, I gradually became more comfortable with those high balls, so I started to get a better feel for the flow of the game.".
Despite table tennis not being a top sport in the country, Thursday's match was widely broadcast on French television and streaming services. The French players are not only gaining more fans at home but are also earning praise and causing concern among the Chinese team.
"They're already one of our strongest opponents, especially judging from their performance in this match. Whether it's Simon or the Lebrun brothers, they are all relatively young, making them one of the best teams in the world," said China's Ma, one of the most decorated players in the sport.