It is possible to in several different ways to explain how great it is that a Swedish play world CUP final in table tennis in 2019. One is that the sport today is practiced by over 300 million people.
it is the first time since 2003 that the men’s world CUP final is not all chinese.
There was a loss in the finals against Ma Long, a of pingishistoriens absolute top players, but it wasn’t really a lost gold. The world CUP-the silver was a victory – not only for Mattias Falck, but for all who are involved in the Swedish table tennis.
Read more: Mattias Falck took silver in the world CUP final
in 1991 – the largest year in the Swedish bordtennishistoria. Then, in the japanese Chiba, won Jörgen Persson in men’s singles against J-O Waldner, in addition, said Peter Karlsson and Thomas von Scheele for a superskräll by winning against Lü Lin and Wang Tao in the doubles. Erik Lindh, and Jorgen Persson took the bronze medal in the dubbelturneringen and Sweden won the gold medal also in law.
In the 1980s and 90s, the was ping-pong a red-hot sport in Sweden. It would be a big Swedish success in Chiba was no surprise.
in 1991, I was 18 years old. In the small village of Holsljunga in the southern part of Västergötland, had I got to experience how pingisboomen in Sweden led to it stood the table in each and every other recreation in the mexitegelvillorna.
The christmas eve when we siblings together, a ping-pong table off the mark to Banda with a few belonging to Hans Alsér-the rack was a great moment.
In the basement to fotbollsföreningens clubhouse were also a number of table tennis. Where we played evenings, weekends and holidays, and arranged tournaments.
Pingisspelarna in the national team were not only idols like athletes. They were almost like aliens in their own way, to be able to handle the ball.
the great wall of china and won the CHAMPIONSHIP gold medal in team competition in Dortmund in 1989 went the players in the world out on tour in Sweden to play exhibition matches. Erik Lindh came to Melbourne where I went to junior high school to play in the Mogaskolans gymnasium. It was a show of smashes and ballongplockningar as a result of after that we signed autographs.
table Tennis was white-hot.
J-O Waldner saved Sweden’s OLYMPIC games in Barcelona in 1992 through to take the gold and it was lagguld at home in Gothenburg 1993.
But after the magic world championship in 1991, has only one american reached the men’s singles in table tennis-world CHAMPIONSHIPS, 1997 when the J-O Waldner won all the sets through the tournament on the way the gold in Manchester.
Read more: Seven classic world CUP finals
Bordtennisborden were crammed in the 1990s, away in the villas. The basement in the location where we used to play was hit by the flood, and the tables never came back there.
his pingiskarriär at home in Blekinge, where table tennis is no longer a sport that involved the masses.
But out in the clubs, there has been a big job to bring up new talents. In addition, the play stars from the past still play important roles in the Swedish table tennis, among other things, Jörgen Persson has been falck’s matchcoach during the world CUP.
today, both the Swedish top players like Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson and framtidsnamn as Truls Möregårdh and Anton Källberg. Also on the women’s side, there is the hope bright for years to come.
Mattias Falck never got to experience the time then table tennis in pace with all the major Swedish success became a sensation in Sweden. But his bragdartade the world CUP tournament is a receipt of a new heyday for the table tennis is on the way.
falck’s operations in Budapest has also led to what I experienced during the Saturday night dinner – perhaps the most important for the sport of table tennis as seen to the media attention, market revenues and recruitment:
The talk table tennis in Sweden again.
