Fabien Le Floc’h, Media365: published on Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 08:39
Find the major sports news from May 9, 2026, from the end of the L2 season to the defeat of the French team in table tennis, including Arthur Fils’ injury at the Rome Masters 1000.
Football – Le Mans in L1, Bastia in L3 The regular season of Ligue 2 ended in chaos on Saturday night. Le Mans secured their direct promotion to Ligue 1 by defeating Bastia (2-0), causing the Corsican club to fall to L3. This outcome was not well received by the Furiani supporters, as the referee had to definitively stop the game after Le Mans scored their second goal (90th min) due to incidents in the stands. Saint-Etienne, Red Star, and Rodez will compete in the playoffs, while Laval will fight for survival in L2 in the playoffs.
Tennis – Concern for Fils Bad news approaching Roland-Garros. For his debut at the Rome Masters 1000, Arthur Fils chose to retire after only four games against Andrea Pellegrino due to back pain. The recent winner of the Barcelona tournament and semi-finalist of the Madrid Masters 1000 preferred to quit after just a quarter of an hour of play (4-0 in 16 minutes) to avoid jeopardizing his chances at Roland-Garros.
Rugby – Toulouse dominates Toulon Toulon likely said goodbye to their playoff dreams by heavily losing to Toulouse (51-27) on Saturday night in Marseille during the 23rd round of Top 14. Toulon now sits in 8th place on Sunday morning, 9 points behind 6th place occupied by UBB, who narrowly defeated Bayonne (40-38). Clermont (5th) and Stade Francais (4th), with their respective wins against Perpignan (45-14) and Lyon (59-17), can still aim for the 2nd place held by Montpellier, who defeated Montauban (59-7). Pau (3rd) also won against Castres (27-15).
Table Tennis – The French team falls against China The French men’s table tennis team failed to beat China on Saturday in the World Championships in London (1-3). Flavien Coton came close to victory against world number one Wang Chuqin (15-13, 11-13, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8). However, after a win against Lin Shidong (11-9, 11-9, 12-10), Felix Lebrun lost for the eighth time in eight matches against Wang Chuqin (13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4).
Rugby – Easy win for the French women in Scotland In their fourth match in the Six Nations Tournament, the French women secured their fourth bonus-point victory on Saturday in Scotland (69-28). The French women’s XV is tied with England, who defeated Italy on their side (61-33). The two teams will meet again next weekend in Bordeaux to play the “final” of the Tournament. England has won the last seven editions by achieving the Grand Slam each time.
