There’s a LeBron of table tennis. His name is Lebrun.
PARIS—No country has ever dominated an Olympic sport the way that China rules table tennis. Since it made its debut at the Games in 1988, the Chinese have won 33 of a possible 38 gold medals. They came to Paris fully expecting to extend their reign atop the podium.
But now China’s table-tennis monopoly is under threat. And the player who might just be good enough to take down the mighty Chinese in Paris is a bespectacled boy from France. Felix Lebrun has become the host nation’s breakout star and unlikeliest sensation at the Olympics by holding the paddle unlike almost anyone else in the upper echelons of table tennis.
Basically, he walks up to the table and steps into a time machine. Lebrun is 17 years old—and he plays like an old Chinese man. “It’s a white guy playing a traditionally Asian style," said American player Lily Zhang.
“It’s very refreshing." Lebrun plays with the penhold grip, in which his thumb and forefinger wrap around the handle and rest on the front of the paddle, as if he were holding a pen. Top Asian players used to dominate with the grip, but it became less popular because it has one big disadvantage: a weaker backhand. Today, only three of the world’s top-50 men use the penhold, and Lebrun is the only one in the top 10.
Even the Chinese players have ditched it for the ubiquitous shakehand grip, holding the paddle as if they were shaking hands with the handle. But Lebrun has made it work. The grip allows for greater wrist flexibility, letting him put more spin on the ball for both forehands and serves.
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