First world CHAMPIONSHIP medal since 1999, was already secured.

The only thing that stood in the way of a world CUP final for Mattias Falck was a 157-ranked, 19-year-old qualifiers from south Korea.

But 27-year-old was promptly know why An Jae-Hyun had skrällt all the way to the semifinals. Sydkoreanen started the strongest and won the first set with 11-8. Falck replicated, however, and equalized to 1-1 in the set in what would come to be a swinging event.

in the third set and won it big, with the whole of 11-3. Mattias Falck was there and then suspended in a weak phase, but came back.

the Swede took the collar and responded by winning the fourth set with clear 11-4 and it was again acknowledged.

Mattias Falck. Photo: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP

Set number five then became a steady history. Falck turned a 6-9 to win with 11-9 and suddenly had the tack in a semifinal in which he had hitherto been working at a disadvantage.

I took out a backhand at the end of the fifth and varied game. I still felt that I had my modes but now I put my modes also, ” says Falck.

Despairing of An Jae-Hyun? Hardly.

, won the next set with the whole 11-2 and looked to have a mental advantage ahead of the decision. But it was not.

Mattias Falck took a stranglehold on the seventh set, went up to a safe direction – and suddenly had six [citation needed].

the Swede needed two – An Jae-Hyun struck out the last ball, which meant that Falck won the last set with 11-5 and the match with 4-3.

the first swede to reach a world CUP final then Jan-Ove Waldner won the gold medal in 1997 and is now one of Swedish tennis largest ever.

We are talking about Tage Flisberg, silver in 1954, Stellan Bengtsson, gold 1971, Kjell Johansson, and silver, 1973, J-O Waldner, gold in 1989 and 1997, and silver in 1991, and Jörgen Persson, the silver in 1989 and gold in 1991. Now, we expect to enter Mattias Falck as the sixth one in the collection.

“just To be mentioned among the best Swedish players are great,” he says.

Falck pays tribute to his coach, the legendary Jörgen Persson, who followed the match from the side.

– Jörgen Persson was my idol as a kid. I feel we have great chemistry and he is very important for me with a lot of small crucial details.

ade is hard to keep the tears back when being a finalist was secured and was lyrical over falck’s bet.

– It is important that he can rely on the imagination, to have variety in the services and do the unusual, which flipparna far out in the forehand.

Now waiting for the reigning OLYMPIC and world champion Ma Long in the final earlier on Saturday, beating out his compatriot Liang Jingkun.

met in the past, most recently in the team-the world CUP in Halmstad, sweden last year. The chinese, however, is not that scare the swede.

” I have never been in better shape than it is now and feel that I am approaching him. I can get up in my highest level, I think I can disturb him, ” he says.

We’ll see if he gets the right and see that the chinese wall is demolished.

if so the case, it may be a tough return to China, Ma Long – at least if we are to believe ”The eternally green tree’.

” this is totally sick. When he got to 5-4 in the skiljeset so I was sure profit. Ma Long has always met with compatriots in their world CUP and OLYMPIC finals. If he loses against a non-chinese person, will he get an entire nation against him. It may be him in the dish, ” says Jan-Ove Waldner to the TT.