by Simon Daish
One of the main stories of the day came courtesy of Alexandre Robinot, who booked his place on the final day of the French Championships with a quarter-finals victory over Can Akkuzu.
Not only did Alexandre Robinot head into the tie ranked lower in the world than his opponent, but Can Akkuzu also had confidence on his side having registered strong results against Abdel-Kader Salifou and Tristan Flore in his previous encounters.
However, Alexandre Robinot put in a spirited showing against Can Akkuzu, progressing to the last four across five ends (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9).
Next up for Alexandre Robinot is a meeting with the world no.15 Simon Gauzy following his 4-2 success against Joé Seyfried (11-6, 13-11, 6-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-3), with Romain Lorentz and Emmanuel Lebesson going head-to-head in the other semi-finals match after they triumphed over Alexandre Cassin (12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9) and Quentin Robinot (11-2, 11-6, 4-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7) respectively.
Pauline Chasselin is one of just four competitors left remaining in the Women’s Singles category, after she came through her fixture against Emmanuelle Lennon to move into the semi-finals of the tournament.
20-year-old athlete Pauline Chasselin only required five of the seven games on offer to defeat Emmanuelle Lennon, and was hardly troubled throughout the tie (11-6, 11-2, 11-8, 4-11, 12-10). Awaiting Pauline Chasselin in the penultimate stage is Yu Hua Liu, who saw off Oceane Guisnel in her semi-finals match (11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 13-11).
The top half of the last four will be contested by Jia Nan Yuan and Laura Gasnier as the battle for the title enters the home straight.
Both Jia Nan Yuan and Laura Gasnier prevailed in their semi-finals encounters without dropping a game, with Leili Mostafavi (11-4, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9) and Prithika Pavade (11-8, 12-10, 11-5, 11-5) exiting the competition.
While the two Singles events are yet to draw to a close there were conclusions to the Men’s and Women’s Doubles tournaments, as the first trophies of the 2017 French Nationals Championships were presented.
Tristan Flore may have exited the Men’s Singles competition at an earlier stage than he would have liked, but he did enjoy a moment of celebration in the Men’s Doubles after he combined well with Emmanuel Lebesson to beat Thomas Le Breton and Quentin Robinot to the title.
The Women’s Doubles crown went to Lucie Gauthier and her partner Roza Soposki, following their victory over Laura Gasnier and Audrey Zarif in the final.