Doha World Championships – “It's no longer the same”: 6 cm and 6 kg in addition, how Félix Lebrun appropriates his new body

Two baguettes as a legs and a chews' physics fell from the nest. Félix Lebrun, who will play his 8th finals of the Worlds this Thursday, landed among the best players in the world in a teenager body. At 16 or 17 years old, nothing more normal. He used it to press his strengths: speed, finesse and a unique eye.

Except that in front of the Chinese mountains, and the steel thighs of Fan Zhendong at the last Olympic Games, he also touched the limits of his sparrow. “”At the Olympic Games, we realized that Félix, on his semi-final, lacked the ability to hold the exchange between the third and the fifth exchangetells us about his physical trainer Jérémy Surault. From there, the objective of our last six months has been to work around the power at this time of exchange.“

The CHÉTIF FÉLIX took on intense physical work with training that is extended by 45 minutes for specific objectives: development of cardiac endurance, work of strength and power in bodybuilding. And in Doha, at the world championships, the result is quite obvious. His neck, shoulders, thighs, arms: everything has changed, Félix has gained mass.

A spectacular metamorphosis which is due to its training and normal physiological evolution of all young adults between 17 and 20 years old. Since the Olympic Games, the sixth best player in the world has taken six kilos and as many centimeters. “”When people come to the room, they tell us that it is no longer the same“Said his father.

Physical change finds its extension in the racket: “He now has a senior ball, which was not the case in the Olympic Gamescontinue Stéphane Lebrun. C'is essential to gain power for the very high level. To put it differently, you have to send concrete blocks when you play the top ten players in the world. Its quality of ball has never been so high. He becomes like his brother.“Even if a real gap still holds him away from Alexis, a reference of the circuit in terms of power.

“Precise measurements are made on devices and the indicators show me that Félix has taken power without wasting time in the groundspecifies Jérémy Surault. Because, I don't care that he has more power if he takes too long to produce it.“

This is all the stake around Félix today: tackling its weak points without distorting what makes it unique. Do not break the champion that he is, in short. We enter very high precision mechanics. “”It takes a moment of automation of all this, you have to appropriate this new body and it takes timecontinues his trainer. You shouldn't go too fast and it is too disorganized.“Especially since table tennis, more than any other sport, is a matter of details, microsecond, sensations.

Taking possession of this new carcass requires adjustments and also explains why the youngest of the Lebrun brothers had a very irregular 2025 start to 2025. Tomokazu Harimoto (4th world player) or TrulS Moregard (Olympic vice-champion), also very strong during their adolescence, experienced a hollow comparable to that which French could go through in the coming months.

“In training, he is stronger than he has ever been, swears his father. Now it takes regularity.“Stronger but less regular, this is what the future of Félix Lebrun could look like until it stabilizes. This is the challenge of these Worlds, the first major test of the new Félix.