E-SPORT The first French Ping VR Championships are taking place this weekend in Nantes
Two practitioners of Ping VR, virtual table tennis — J. Urbach/20 Minutes
- Booming for three years, virtual table tennis or Ping VR (which is practiced with a headset and controllers) has already attracted 1.4 million players in the whole world.
- The first French championships in this surprising discipline are taking place this weekend in Nantes under the aegis of the French Table Tennis Federation.
< p>He pushed the furniture along the wall to have enough space in his living room. It must be said that it’s there; as his training sessions unfold, “one by one; two hours a day” the hand. At 38, Vivien Loytier is one of the best virtual table tennis players, under the nickname Ribou85. “I started to melts during confinement, and I have since tried to be very diligent, confides the Vend en, French number 4 and 11th place in the world rankings. What I like is that it’s very intense, much more than in real life. We don’t pick up the ball, we chain the points. There are also a lot of tactics.”
This weekend at; Nantes, the young man and about twenty other experts in this surprising discipline will meet at the Resource Center for Expertise and Sports Performance (Creps) in Pays-de-la-Loire for the first edition. very serious French Ping VR championships. A “spotlight” for this practice officially supported by the French Table Tennis Federation for a few months, and which is developing in France. high speed V.
Les premiers championnats de France de Ping VR, c’est ce week-end et en public à #Nantes! Petite démo avant la compétition #pingVR #tennisdetable pic.twitter.com/rRDJEEPVie
— 20 Minutes Nantes (@20minutesnantes) December 16, 2022
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“It is estimated that 1.4 million the number of players in the world, calculates Stephane Pachis, the president of the community. Eleven France (from the name of the game), with 750 members who communicate daily via a Discord. In three years, 40 million matches have been played. played! The advantage is that two people can compete from home, whenever they want, even if they are away. half of the world. of our members are in real life.”
Ping VR, a real sport?
When you put on the helmet, you must à just a few seconds to immerse yourself in the atmosphere. Small noise and mini jolt when you get to the “type” in the ball, it is however necessary to be very careful with; do not lean on the “table”! Then, serve, lift, buggy, all shots are possible in theory, just like in real life. From there to consider Ping VR a real sport? Yes, answer its practitioners to; unison, who “not define themselves as geeks”.
“Even if some gestures are different, we find the same sensations. And personally, I sweat a lot more in virtual than in real life, although I have been practicing for seventeen years, swears Vivien Loytier. What is interesting is that the game has made me progress in classification in the real. My eye has improved, I have a better analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of my opponents.”
For the French Table Tennis Federation, the objective is that this enthusiasm translates into an increase in the number of licensees, less than 200,000 currently, and a rejuvenation of the age group. practitioners. “A lot of gamers are attracted to the virtual version thanks to; its community, very friendly and benevolent, assures Stéphane Pachis. This may contrast with the somewhat cold welcome that we find in some clubs when we want to get started.””
Last March, two other disciplines (gliding and cycling) have received the delegation from the Ministry of Sports to develop their virtual version.
The weekend program< /p>
For the first edition of the event, 24 of the best French virtual table tennis players will participate in a group stage (Saturday) then in knockout matches (Sunday). To win a game, you will have to win three games of two winning sets by 11 points. The final will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. Animations will be organized in parallel for the general public.