After a suspenseful third set won 16-14, Barbora Balazova collapsed, overcome by emotion. In tears, the 29-year-old Slovak has just offered the third point (3-0) synonymous with victory in the return leg of the French Pro A championship. Her teammates (including Camille Lutz, 18, and Leïli Mostafavi, 21 ) rush in a second to celebrate this first coronation in the history of the Dionysian ping. A joyous farandole in front of an audience of the cauldron of "La Raquette" in fusion. "You realize, we started the season to play maintenance, and here we are champions of France! Captain Qiwen Xiao also fails to realize the feat her team has achieved.
One month after the victory in the final of the ETTU European Cup, Saint-Denis also entered his name in the prize list of the national trophy of Queens of France.
Beaten on the first leg (3-2), Balazova's partners never trembled during this final return, postponed for two weeks due to cases of Covid-19 contact in the ranks of Metz.
"From up there, he must be proud of us"
In one hour 45, Saint-Denis overwhelmed his opponent, playing on team strategy. After the initial clear-cut of the Franco-Monegasque (born Chinese) Xiaoxin Yang against Adina Diaconu, Prithika Pavade took up her responsibilities by lining up in the second match. The 93-year-old prodigy, who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics at just 16, smothered the other Romanian Daniela Monteiro-Dodean (33) in three dry sets. “We had a clear round, relishes the 2020 European hopeful champion. After the first leg, it was still 50-50, but we were able to react and motivate ourselves. "
A motivation undoubtedly drawn from a season marked by entry by the sudden death of their trainer Nicolas Greiner in October.
“From up there, he must be proud of us,” Balazova says, before asking for a glass of champagne to recover from his emotions.
“It was he who created this group, adds Prithika Pavade, who came to table tennis near Le Bourget under the orders of Greiner.
He took a major part in this coronation.
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With four table tennis players selected for the next Tokyo Olympics (Pavade, Balazova, Xiaoxin Yang and Frenchman Alexandre Cassin), Saint-Denis is experiencing a season that will go down in its history as the club announcer proclaimed loud and clear: “Tonight, the Kings of France must turn around in their tomb in the basilica ... "