Table tennis: Florent Lambiet not yet in Tokyo …

Florent Lambiet will still have to wait or rather… play two or three more matches in Doha to win his Olympic selection. Arrived in the final of the table, the 25-year-old Liege unfortunately lost, this Tuesday morning, against the Hungarian Majoros, world No. 60, on the score of four sets to one (6-11, 7-11, 9- 11, 11-8, 8-11).

After his incredible day on Monday which saw him reverse the situation against the Italian Bobocica, who led three sets to zero (5-11, 13-15, 5-11) before our compatriot won the last four, then against the Russian Sidorenko, with whom he was tied, three sets everywhere, to finally win in the seventh, Florent was undoubtedly a little tired against his club partner, in Chartres.

And the pressure of qualifying for the Tokyo Games didn’t help! After losing the first set (6-11), Florent took the advantage for the first time at 5-4, then 7-6, in the second, which he lost (7-11). Better classified than him in the world ranking, the Hungarian continued his momentum and won the third round (9-11).

Florent Lambiet then had a magnificent burst of pride in the fourth set, which he led from start to finish to win (11-8). But that was only to delay the deadline because the Hungarian, with loud cries on each point, won the fifth set (8-11) and therefore the Olympic qualification.

To be continued…