The men’s teams for France and Romania faced off on Sunday for a chance to earn the gold medal at the ETTU European Team Championships 2025. A win for France would give the country its first gold medal in this event since Romania joined the European Union.
And it only took three games for France to taste victory at the European Team Championships for the first time in 27 years.
France defeated Romania (3-0) to earn the gold medal at the ETTU European Team Championships 2025 on Sunday. Brothers Félix (Men’s Singles No. 5) and Alexis (No. 12) Lebrun led France to their first gold medal since 1998, with crucial help from Simon Gauzy (No. 18), Thibault Poret (No. 33) and Flavien Coton (No. 43).
Romania’s silver medal comes after reaching the finals for the first time in the country's history, which they earned after toppling top-seeded Sweden in the quarterfinals and 11th-seeded Slovenia in the semifinals. Their team of Eduard Ionescu (No. 50), Iulian Chirita (No. 70), Ovidiu Ionescu (No. 117), Darius Movileanu (No. 206) and Andrei Istrate (No. 226) won Romania’s fourth-ever medal in the European Team Championships, their first since winning a bronze medal in 2009.
Alexis Lebrun opened the finals for France against Chirita, and he opened strong with an 11-2 victory in their first game. Lebrun continued to dominate Chirita for two more games, winning 11-6 and 11-7 to put France on the board first.
Félix Lebrun’s first game of the second match closely resembled his brother’s first game, crushing Eduard Ionescu with an 11-3 victory. Ionescu managed to take the second game, 11-9, but Lebrun ended any hopes of a comeback by winning 11-5 and 11- 4 to win France’s second point.
Gauzy continued the brothers’ momentum in the third match by winning two straight games against Ovidiu Ionescu. One more win from that elusive gold medal, but that win was no guarantee. Both of Gauzy’s victories were a tight 11-9, and Ionescu pummeled Gauzy in the very next game, 11-3.
The fourth game ended with the same score, but Gauzy came out on top. That fourth and final game earned France the gold medal they’ve been missing for nearly three decades.
Notably absent from Sunday was the presence of Germany, who hadn’t missed a finals at the European Team Championships since 2005. Their team of Benedikt Duda (No. 8), Dang Qiu (No. 14), Patrick Franziska (No. 15), André Bertelsmeier (No. 81) and Ricardo Walther (No. 37) won a bronze medal after reaching the semifinals after losing just one match in the main draw before falling to France.
Germany shares a bronze medal with Slovenia, represented by Darko Jorgić (No. 10), Deni Kožul (No. 138), Peter Hribar (No. 340), Brin Vovk Petrovski (No. 345) and Bojan Tokić (No. 715). Slovenia’s run to the semifinals earned them their second-ever medal, their first since 2017.
ETTU’s next event, the 2025 JOOLA EYS Czech Open, will run from Oct. 22 - 26 in Plzen, Czech Republic.
.jpg)