Paris 2024 Olympics - Table Tennis - Men's Team Bronze Medal Team Match - South Paris Arena 4, Paris, France - August 09, 2024. Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan in action during his bronze medal match against Felix Lebrun of France. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
France earned its first table tennis team medal in Olympic history with a pulsating 3-2 victory over Japan in their match for the bronze on Friday, August 9 before a partisan crowd at South Paris Arena 4.
Simon Gauzy and Alexis Lebrun staked France to a 1-0 lead with a 3-1 (11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6) win in doubles over Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami.
Felix Lebrun then made it 2-0 for the hosts with a 3-2 (11-13, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10) singles triumph over Tomokazu Harimoto.
Japan fought back and cut the deficit to 2-1 with a 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9) victory by Togami over Lebrun.
The Hinomaru equalized the contest at 2-2 as Harimoto bested Gauzy 3-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 14-12) in another singles match.
Lebrun's Victory Seals the Bronze for France in Table Tennis Team Event
It then came down to the fifth and final match between Lebrun and Shinozuka to decide who would take home the medal. Lebrun quickly took the first two games 11-7, 11-7, before Shinozuka came back at 14-12 to keep the battle alive.
Lebrun then closed it out with a 13-11 victory to take the match 3-1 and give France the bronze.
"My opponent is higher ranked, so I came in focused on really going all out on those things I can do," Shinozuka was quoted as saying by Kyodo News after his loss to Shinozuka. "I was able to execute about 90 percent of my attacking techniques."
At the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the Japan men's team earned the bronze medal. Harimoto played for Japan in that team event at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. China and Germany finished first and second, respectively.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
