Théo Lucien, Souleyman Alaphilippe, Dylan Chelamootoo, Magda Wiet-Hénin... the second part of this second day could allow the French team to believe.

Souleyman Alaphilippe (-68kg), who was excused from his fight against the Belgian Jaouad Achab - who did not appear for the round of 16 -, then met the formidable British Bradly Sinden, the 2019 world champion and Olympic medalist whose fighting intensity is clearly above average. The Frenchman threw himself without restraint into this quarter-final, which was spectacular from start to finish, very close in every sense of the word and which Sinden concluded 16-18 in the first round. This very big fight in volume and intensity continued from the beginning of the second round but it is still Sinden who scored and pushed Souleymane to the fault. Leading 0-5, then 1-8, the score was sealed at 6-13... Frustration for the Frenchman who can have the satisfaction of having given everything, his opponent being of a world level, seven times medalist in Grand Prix, but never in gold and who obviously has it in his legs too.

The trajectory was different for Dylan Chelamootoo: pushed in his tracks by the Dominican Bernardo Pie, Pan-American champion in title, he suffered in the first round (4-15) before snatching the second 8-8 on the gong and then the third 9-7 during an unbridled fight. A capacity to not give up which allowed him to pass to the quarter, this time against the Jordanian Zaid Kareem, vice champion of Asia. An overexcited fighter who immediately put pressure on Dylan Chelamootoo and started the fight on very high bases. Beaten 4-11 in the first round, the Frenchman tried to find the right balance, threw, but his opponent was often faster and while Dylan was leading 9-4, the end of the fight saw points raining down on the Jordanian side... 10-9, two winning rounds. The fighter from Cergy will not see the semi-finals.

No more than Magda Wiet-Hénin, towards whom all eyes were turned for a medal today. Her fight against Ashley Kraayeveld showed it: she wanted to go hard. While she was at 8-8 against the experienced Canadian (30 years old), she changed gear to win 12-8, raising her fist on each attack, before concluding in the second round 10-4, her opponent having no choice but to advance on her. The next round offered her the Belgian Sarah Chaâri. A very tall woman who had made a very nice fight in the previous round against the Chinese Zhang and who attacked the Frenchwoman from the start, leading 4-0 and even 6-1 before Magda's experience came to take over. Fatigue of the day, embarrassment of the length of this great fighter? Magda lost the second round and, in spite of a superb kick at the beginning of the third, did not manage to control this fight sufficiently, losing 7-11. Very disappointing.

Blue among the Blues, or almost, at the age of 20, Théo Lucien was the one who made the best move of the day in this very competitive category of -68kg. A round of 16 won in three rounds against the Swedish Ali Alian, whom he managed to put in the right direction after losing the first one, for a quarter against the Hungarian Levente Jozsa, also won in three tight rounds... Théo Lucien, often underdog but impeccable in his desire and pugnacity, reached the semi-finals of this Grand Prix de France with a big smile, and the hope to go even better. In the semi-final, everything was decided on the Spaniard Javier Perez Polo and his 6'1". The fighter of 3MKTD kept his course, but beaten 1-3 in the first round, he suffered the experience of the world medalist 2019 and vice champion of Europe in title. Bronze and a solid base for the continuation.

At the end of this second day, nineteen countries have medaled, and five have two medals: France, Spain and China (1 gold, 1 bronze), Tunisia and Korea (1 silver, 1 bronze).

Olivier Remy / Sen No Sen