Aurélie Sacchelli, Media365: published on Monday, March 30, 2026 at 4:23 pm
Four out of the seven French players competing in the World Table Tennis Cup played on Monday, and only Charlotte Lutz was defeated, after putting up a good fight against the 5th ranked player in the world.
It’s time for the World Table Tennis Cup! Like the past two years, Macao is hosting the world’s best male and female ping pong players. They are divided into 16 groups of three, and only the winner of each group will advance to the round of 16. The format from last year, with matches played in four sets and points ratio calculated if both players won two sets each, has been abolished, and there will indeed be a fifth set in case of a tie. It’s worth noting that Flavien Coton, who was the brilliant winner of the WTT Contenter in Tunis on Sunday, did not qualify for this World Cup.
Two French Players Remain Undefeated
While waiting for the Lebrun brothers Felix (6th in the world) and Alexis (14th) to enter the competition on Tuesday, Thibault Poret (28th) faced off against the 102nd ranked player Eugene Wang. The Frenchman defeated the 40-year-old Canadian in four sets: 11-13, 12-10, 11-8, 11-4. But now he will have to take on the 12th ranked player in the world, German player Benedikt Duda. Simon Gauzy (19th) was matched against Algerian player Stephane Ouaiche, and it was a smooth victory, as he won 11-5, 11-8, 13-11. Things will get tougher in the next match, facing the 17th ranked player in the world, 19-year-old Chinese player Wen Ruibo.
Yuan defeats a 64-year-old player
In the women’s category, there are three French players in the draw, and two began their matches on Monday. Charlotte Lutz (53rd) suffered the only French defeat of the day. However, she was unlucky in drawing the 5th ranked player in the world, Chinese player Man Kuai. The 20-year-old from Alsace fought back well after a catastrophic start, but eventually lost in five sets: 11-2, 11-6, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8. Qualifying for the round of 16 will be very difficult, as she will now face American player Amy Wang, ranked 39th in the world. The French number one and 24th in the world, Jia Nan Yuan, faced a 64-year-old player, New Zealand player Chunli Li, ranked 127th in the world, who has competed in four Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in the 1997 World Cup. Yuan maintained her dominance by winning 11-13, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.
