The tricolor table tennis dreamed of its first Olympic medal since the bronze of the men's doubles Jean-Philippe Gatien / Patrick Chila (now coach) in 2000 in Sydney.
He will still have to wait.
French table tennis pair Emmanuel Lebesson / Jian Nan Yuan lost on Monday at noon in Tokyo to world number one Lin Yun Ju / Cheng I Ching in the third place match.
🏓 Emmanuel Lebesson and Jia Nan Yuan bow to Taiwan.
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Cergy-Pontain Lebesson and Choletaise Yuan, world number seven, lost in four dry heats.
The mixed doubles, a new event in Japan, represented a unique opportunity for both of them to climb onto an Olympic podium.
Lebesson (33 years old and 40th in the world in singles) and Yuan (36 years old and 95th) are within a hair's breadth of their dreams.
They are still both qualified for the third round in individual.