Few French venues can boast of having hosted such a contingent of Paralympic medalists. This weekend, the Joël-Bommersheim gymnasium in Maizières-lès-Metz welcomed the gratin of French handisport table tennis for its French Championships. Despite the package of Moulinois Stéphane Molliens, half a dozen multiple Paralympic medalists had made the trip to Moselle, for the resumption of high-level competitions. “For most of the players, it was their first national competition for over a year,” notes Christophe Porte, president of the Grand Est League and the local club of Maizières. “I think it did everyone a lot of good, and everyone played along: the referees did not distribute any cards for the weekend! “
At the end of the Championships, the relief was palpable for the Moselle leader. “We have been working on this competition for two years, after the postponement of the 2020 edition. Thanks to all the volunteers, we were able to offer a quality competition to the players, who gave it back to us, with excellent confrontations ”.
Maxime Thomas in bronze
The table tennis players present in Maizières-lès-Metz especially offered an overview of the French selection, one of the best in the world, three months before the launch of the Tokyo Games (August 24 – September 5). Despite the regrouping of handicap classes, the favorites held their rank. So Fabien Lamirault in a wheelchair (class 1-2), who will not have missed a weekend round, or Florian Merrien, also in a wheelchair (class 3). The former member of Moulins-lès-Metz TT Maxime Thomas, won bronze in class 4-5. Note also the 17th French champion title for Thu Kamkasomphou in the standing category (class 6-10), and the hat-trick for Matéo Bohéas, who won in standing doubles for Men and Mixed, and in class 9-10.
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The results
GENTLEMEN
Class 1-2 : Semi-finals: Fabien Lamirault (Marseille Provence TTH) beats Benoît Besset (ASPTT Romans) 3-0; Teddy Gaudry (ES Villeneuve Loubet) defeats Julien Michaud (TTC Laurentin) 3-2. Final: Lamirault beats Gaudry 3-0. Class 3 : Gold: Florian Merrien (Bayard Argentan); Silver: François Geuljans (Eveil mendois TT); Bronze: Yorick Adjal (Saint Quentin Yvelines Handisport). Class 4-5 : Semi-finals: Nicolas Savant-Aira (Marseille Provence TTH) beats Maxime Thomas (CS Charcot TT) 3-1; Emeric Martin (B. Argentan) beats Noureddine Gharbi (ASPC Nîmes) 3-0. Final: Savant-Aira beats Martin 3-0. Class 6-7 : Semi-finals: Thomas Fernandez (ASPC Nîmes) beats Clément Latorre (ASPTT Toulouse) 3-0; Esteban Herrault (TT Joué-lès-Tours) beats Laurent Diaz (ASPTT Toulouse) 3-0. Finale : Herrault asked Fernandez 3-2. Class 8 : Semi-finals: Thomas Bouvais (Levallois SC) beats Mathieu Protin (Sotteville TT) 3-1; Edgar Empis (Handisport Grand Rouen) beats Florian Freiburger (TT St Herblain) 3-1. Final: Bouvais beats Empis 3-0. Class 9-10 : Semi-finals: Matéo Bohéas (Angers TT) beats Julien Cigolotti (Rilleux TT) 3-0; Frédéric Bellais (B. Argentan) beats Nicolas Mille (ASPTT Toulouse) 3-2. Final: Bohéas beats Bellais 3-0.
WOMEN
Class 1-5 : Semi-finals: Flora Vautier (Villeneuve Loubet TT) beats Isabelle Lafaye (CS Charcot TT) 3-0; Alexandra Saint-Pierre (Handisport Grand Rouen) beats Bernadette Darvant (CSINI St Jean de Dieu) 3-0. Final: Saint-Pierre beats Vautier 3-1. Class 6-10 : Semi-finals: Thu Kamkasomphou (Hyères Toulon) beats Eliane Charbonneau (ASE Handisport) 3-2; Anne Barneoud (TT Gerland) beats Audrey Le Morvan (B. Argentan) 3-2. Final: Kamkasomphou beats Le Morvan 3-0.
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