Felix Lebrun, 19, becomes first French player to win a Grand Smash table tennis title in Malmo

First French Grand Smash champion

Felix Lebrun, 19, became the first French table tennis player to win a Grand Smash tournament, the highest tier of the sport and the equivalent of a tennis Grand Slam. On Sunday, 16 August 2026, in Malmo, Sweden, the world number 5 defeated Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto, ranked 4th globally, in the final: 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9. The match lasted 33 minutes. No French player had ever won a tournament at this level before. The victory ends Lebrun's pursuit of a first Grand Smash singles title since his previous final appearance, which he lost to world number 1 Wang Chuqin in Beijing in October 2025. Lebrun, a double bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics and the top-ranked French player, secured the biggest title of his career.

Lebrun started the final with authority, racing to an 8-1 lead in the opening set. Solid on his serve and imposing a sustained rhythm, the Montpellier native, coached by Nathanael Molin, carried that dominance into the second set, which he won 11-8. He was then put in difficulty in the third set, losing it 5-11 as Harimoto found his range. After winning the fourth set 11-9, Lebrun did not falter in the fifth, closing out the match 11-9 after 33 minutes of play to claim the title in five sets.

Reversing the head-to-head

The final carried additional weight because Harimoto had beaten Lebrun in both of their previous encounters: in the quarterfinals of the WTT Finals in December 2025, and at a tournament in Doha in January 2026. Lebrun reversed that trend on the sport's biggest stage, controlling the tempo from the outset and building an early cushion that Harimoto could not fully overcome. The 11-5 opening set established the tone, and despite dropping the third set, Lebrun won both the fourth and fifth sets by the same 11-9 margin to seal the title.

A doubles title to complete the weekend

The singles triumph capped an exceptional weekend for Lebrun, who on Saturday, 15 August, won the doubles title alongside his older brother Alexis. The French pair defeated defending champions Wong Chun Ting and Chan Baldwin, the world's second-ranked doubles team, 11-7, 11-8, 14-12. The third set was the tightest, with the Lebrun brothers edging it 14-12 to complete a straight-sets victory. This was the pair's second Grand Smash doubles title, following their win in Singapore on 28 February 2026. That Singapore triumph, six months earlier, had been the first Grand Smash title for a French duo. The Malmo doubles victory gave the brothers their second title at this level.

Path through the tournament

Earlier on Sunday, Lebrun reached the final by dominating Slovenia's Darko Jorgic in the semifinals. The victory earned him a place in the evening final against Harimoto, scheduled for 19:00 local time. Lebrun had been chasing the singles title at this level since his Beijing final loss ten months earlier. The 19-year-old from Montpellier added a singles crown to the doubles title he had already won the day before, completing a sweep of both disciplines at the Grand Smash of Europe.