FULL MATCH ｜ Quadri Aruna vs Felix Lebrun ｜ MS R32 ｜ #WTTChongqing 2024

He's no stranger to fulfilling dreams. The quality of this first point, my goodness. We are in for an interesting match. All forehand, even from behind the table, Quadri. And a long serve, deep service game constantly improving. Quadri goes one for one on his serves. So what is it about Quadri's forehand that makes it so devastating? I'll tell you a few things. One, he wasn't raised in a system with a coach that gave him sort of a traditional game. It's fairly self-taught. Obviously he's had help and coaches over the years. He's played overseas from Portugal to France to Germany, all around the world. And that's just league play. Of course, table tennis players at this level are still going everywhere, but Quadri's forehand, you can find videos online of Fang Bo doing his impression of Quadri's forehand. It's crazy. Fang Bo said, basically, my shoulder would come out of socket if I played the same way Quadri did, but Quadri's strong. But a quick start here. Short points after that first one. And this is generally the style of Félix Lebrun. He doesn't back off the table unless he has to. He's good inside the table. The penhold grip helps. Good call, Akram Benetia, like a sharpshooter. Ah, backhand counters. Now Quadri's backhand, rarely does he go for a wristy, spinny backhand. The backhand punch, a little bit more common in Nigeria. Other than Olajide Omotayo, who will take big, ripping, spinning backhands. With the second towel break, six points between them once again. Félix has a very unusual grip on his serve. But it serves him well, because he's got seven game points here. Spinny backhand punished on the way back. Back for action, quick into it. Quadri's gonna have to try some flicks. A variety of things to make Félix uncomfortable on the third ball. And it works. Open face of the racket, not a lot of spin on it. Puts it deep and dead. Shovel serve for a point. Unusually cautious. Quadri in that rally, wow. It's a scary thing. It's not scary to play the ball soft, it's scary to play the ball soft to a player so aggressive. Still felt like about 80% from Quadri Aruna on the forehand. Good retrieval, the backhand whipping. And Quadri pulling off all sorts of rare occasions here. A fishing shot, a jumping, spinny backhand. The first towel break, I'll tell you, I wanted to feel Quadri's forehand. The practice hall back in the day, I said, give me your 100% shot. Now we're seeing it. These two have to be up in the 90s here in terms of percentage forehand. That's the forehand we know from Quadri, the type that brings the pocket out. So I said, give me your 100%. He said, I am. And I said, it looks so much faster watching you on TV, commentating you, your forehand. In matches, it just looks so much faster. He said, in matches, I give 110%. Step in the right direction here for the man who dominated game number one, but is still trailing by three, Félix Lebrun. Smart placement here. Shirt must be dry right now for Quadri Aruna. How long will that last? We don't know. Varying depths to that forehand side when he does the shovel serve. Quadri will constantly be feeling out the table to find the placement. And a quality receive, Félix Lebrun, with what, four in a row now from 2-6 down? Long shovel serve. But it's the receive that causes the trouble, Félix. Nice camera work here to get a variety of angles, but it also makes you wonder how different was that shot from other forehands. Thumb off the racket as he does. Something interesting that that does. I watched Jushin analyze it a little bit, but seven of the last eight points here for Félix Lebrun with his loose grip at the start of the serve. Generally, you do want to have a looser grip on the racket for serve, because you're not playing for power. You're playing for spin. Guides this one through with style. I love the way Quadri does that. I watch him in league play as well. Gets up on one foot for that ball. The big backhand. Been a complete turnaround. Remember, Quadri was up 6-2. Now it's a one-point game. Making his case again. Quadri coming back. Spinny backhand. Over the years, he's pulled out that backhand. He's developed his game playing in Germany and around the world in many ways. But when time calls for it, he'll do what he has to. The backhand sets it up. The forehand finishes. Quadri now with a game point. Sets it up and puts it away. Quadri Aruna on the scoreboard. An 11-9 victory. Got a great seat for Félix's match. A lot of wisdom. Uncle Christophe Legu. Quadri able to lean back. Get that forehand in for a second time in the backhand corner. The reaction time is unreal. Feels like it had been some time, but Félix reminding us what he's capable of with the quick off-the-bounce attack. Quadri's into something good right now. The way he handles his opening. Getting fired up here, Félix. Wears his heart on his sleeve just like his brother. Not just like his brother in the identical sense, but in the fact that they both do. Coach Nat Moulin, Nathanael, who's been working with the Lebrons since they were tiny, tiny kids. Ah, this serve gets away a little bit, and still it's effective. It's not the first time we've seen that today, a serve that comes in at an awkward pace, causing trouble. Keeping his positivity here, exhaling stress. This one gets away, but 4-4. Dead even in this game. Long serve allows for a clean opening attack from Félix. Quadri so well calibrated with this backhand. The topspin has come in time and time again, and Quadri with the racket high comes down through the ball with that punching backhand. Fishing game, still in it, Quadri waiting, and it goes past. Takes the chance. The only time you go to the forehand with someone that far behind the table is if you think you can hit it out of reach, and that's exactly what Félix did. That camera angle was perfect. The 15th shot of that rally, side and topspin. Second towel break here. Quadri clearing the brow, clearing the mind, swiping the windshield to the brain. This is definitely raining. The punch, he blitzed the table to come back. Quadri dry for now. The net ball there, which is what Félix was apologizing for. Thirteen shots, the average point in table tennis, about three shots in a rally, the average rally. Think about where this match started. Almost every point was less than three shots. Incredibly quick rallies. That, to me, is credit to Quadri Aruna for changing his receive game, mixing up the serves and getting Félix less comfortable with the opening attack, but now it's five game points. Félix has him where he wants him, behind the table. Still in it, the fish game, the touch drop for a second bounce to win the game, Félix. The penhold feeling on this one, Félix, full of feeling. Backhand serves from Félix. Oh, Quadri on the chase. Now, why would someone serve with the backhand? A lot of reasons. One, to change up the table, the space, but two, to get their backhand into play early. One, one. Good timing on this, the quick response, Félix right back to where it came from on the parallel. One, two. Many a player have fallen victim to the forehand and the force that Quadri brings. Backhand punch, less rotation on it. Tough to rally with, and the crowd loves it. The ambition to move back into the table against a player so aggressive, it's a matter of survival. Talked about survival, surviving these forehands from Quadri. These are bazookas coming in. Blasting, and Félix makes his way back in, counters with the backhand, 18 shots, and the pressure on. Oh, what a follow-up. After an 18-shot rally, the average of the last two rallies is going to be about a nine-shot rally. Still impressive, but getting a zero on a test after getting 100 on a test and got an average of 50, that's some high-level math right there. You're welcome, Quadri. Still up four to two. The forehand flick as well, pulling all the tricks out of the hat now. In a best-of-five, it's a bit of a sprint, and if you're running on adrenaline, you don't have to do it for quite as long as you would in a best-of-seven. Let's just take a moment to acknowledge how conscientious that ball kid was to sneeze silently and cover that in the corner. Quadri in good form here, some deep thinking from the youngest male player here, Félix Lebrun. One step in the right direction, and deep to the corner. Look at the placement on that. I love the health pose, like Patrick Franziska, looking like a fighter out here. Little fortune for Quadri, but the backhand comes through once again. Can I clean my glasses, he says. Gets the okay from the umpire. Deep cleaning there, forehead as well. Forehand does it. Quadri sets it up. If you were to draw a line on the table where you think Quadri's forehand stops, guess what, it wouldn't be on the table. It would be on the floor next to it. Four, nine. Which is funny, because traditionally, that was the penhold grip. Nine, five. It was the penholders that had to run everything down. If you look at old footage of Ma Lin playing Yu Seung-min, some of the fastest feet in the game. Backhand punch, once again, it's tough to rally with because there's less rotation on it, and it's five game points. Quadri saying, mind if I clean my racket? Give me a moment. You got your glasses and forehead. I've got my racket. Here we go. Beautiful forehand, the pace on it, and we are going to the D. Whether it's a best of seven or five. Last one. But that one percentage point favored Quadri Aruna. Too close to call, no doubt about it. That's why we watch. Two, nine. Man, not a bad start here. The league's LeBron. Remember the service game from game number two of Quadri Aruna had been quite incredible. Oh, no, he didn't. Two, one. The forehand wide. Watch him on the backpedal. Look at that, a whirlwind of a forehand. Arm behind the head, signature Quadri Aruna for the wide winner. One, three. Looking for answers. Still the early part of the decider. Forehand flick, does it, Quadri. A few times now has pulled out this shot that's one of the most difficult in the game. Quadri's got it, it's just not the shot you think of when you think Quadri. That's the shot you think of more or less. The leaks has made it difficult to be consistent in the counter. Clever idea of Quadri puts that down. It's going to be a clear winner. Five, two. They will switch sides of the table as this is the final game available. The decider, they switch when one player reaches five points. Felix calls for a little bit of room service here for Quadri to counter. Nice soft flick to the middle. Something awkward, something to change up the timing and Quadri with this first point out of the timeout. The setup is right for me. It's shorter to the forehand than the previous serves to the forehand. Gets into the point well, follows up with a flick. But it's Felix to take the point. You're watching this in real speed, it's not sped up. This is just how fast they're playing. It's unbelievable to me that there aren't more injuries with the amount of stress and strain on the body. The speed of the game today. Touch play here, Felix. Drives Quadri behind the table. Tough place to be. Quadri trying to cover that right hip, the middle. Soft topspin opening. Bit of a reactionary backhand punch. And again, it's not just an attack. It's perfectly placed into the middle, deep on the backhand side so that Quadri couldn't easily play the forehand. And it is seven match points for Felix LeBron. Right down the line, cruises through. And a roaring victory in the decider to add to his percentage points here.