The Man Who Turned Table Tennis Into Art | The Story Of Simon Gauzy

Simon Gauzy is a player that catches your attention with his creativity and artistic style of play. But how did he get here? What were the battles, the triumphs and the setbacks that defined his career? This is the story of Simon Gauzy, one of the most exciting players in the game. Gauzy was born 1994 in Toulouse, France. His natural talent and passion for the game quickly became obvious. From the very beginning he was the best in the country for his age, and in 2009 he became junior European champion. He had come a long way to his goal to be a world-class player, but there is a big step from junior to senior level. We have seen many players completely dominating in Europe as a junior, who later couldn't take the last step. So there was a lot of hard work left to reach his final potential. His hard work would pay off when he four years later won the national championships. He was only 18 years old and already the best in his country. The same year he also became champion of the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, under 21. The question was just how great he could become. Only the sky was the limit. With every match he gained experience, confidence and a reputation. He didn't just play against the best, he challenged them, beat them and made them respect his name. His first major performance came in the 2017 World Cup. In the first round he beat South Korea's star Jong Sang Yoon to reach the quarter-final where Japan's legend Jun Mizutani was waiting. It was a hard fight and Gorzy came out on top 11-8 in the decider. In the semi-finals Germany's Dmitry Ovcharov played better on the day and won the deciding game 11-8. He also put up a great fight against Ma Long in the bronze medal match, but more than that was hard to ask for at this time. Simon Gorzy, still only 23 years old, was now seen as an absolute world-class player after several big performances. This tournament Gorzy got a tough draw. The hopes for a medal was slim to none when Xu Xin was waiting as early as the third round. But this encounter would go down in history as one of the best matches ever. Xu Xin world number two versus Simon Gorzy world number 29. In table tennis this ranking gap is bigger than in other sports because the Chinese, especially at a world championship, is so dominant. The level gap is bigger than the numbers can show. It was a big mountain to climb for Gorzy, but mountains are there to be climbed, aren't they? Gorzy played the match of his life. His creativity was at its peak and he fighted for every point like his life depended on it. Xu Xin held his level. He played great as well and the level of the match was unreal. Xu Xin didn't lose against Simon Gorzy. Gorzy won against Xu Xin. Simon Gorzy surfed on the wave and beat Yang Wang 4-0, 11-0 in the first set. In the quarter-final he faced another underdog Matthias Falck, who also had the tournament of his life. Falck stopped Gorzy's journey this time, but this tournament from Gorzy as well from Falck goes down in the history books. In 2020 Gorzy won the national championship, surprisingly only for the second time in his career. He won it when he was 18 in 2013 and had to wait seven years to win it again. He won it again the year after, so now he had three national titles. But it would be difficult to win more because some brothers had started to play decent table tennis. The LeBron brothers had burst onto the scene and surpassed him. Gorzy was no longer the best player in France, but this was not necessarily something bad for Gorzy. It was rather something really good for him. The LeBron brothers would help him to win the glorious medals that he was missing in his collection. In 2024 a strong French team consisting of the LeBron brothers and Gorzy won a silver medal at the world team championships. The French team put on a really great fight against China in the final as well. You can really see how happy Gorzy was. A world championship medal is a big dream for every top player. Unlike Felix and Alexis, Gorzy had to wait a decade being at the top to achieve this. If that weren't enough this team would make history again a few months later in the Paris Olympics. China was too strong in the semi-final, but they had the opportunity to win Olympic bronze in front of a crowd. And so they did, after a 3-2 win that started with an important doubles win by Gorzy and Alexis. Beautiful scenes. This is really what sports are all about. This is probably the proudest moment in his career. Simon Gorzy is an absolute legend that has provided us with some of the most insane rallies we've ever seen. When Gorzy is in his flow state like he was against Liang Jingkun last year, you just question yourself every time. How on earth did he just do that? And how did he even get that idea to do that? This sport needs players like him. Artists that design their own game. That's the most beautiful thing about this sport. There are so many ways of play and so many different tactics and types of weird shots that for some players are their way to win points.