He had faced Wang Chuqin eight times – and lost all of them.
But in the Olympics, Truls Möregårdh was a huge sensation.
The Swede knocked out the Chinese world number one after super drama.
As expected, Truls Möregårdh advanced from the first round of the ping-pong Olympic tournament. But when the draw did come, the Swedish medal hope had slightly resigned faces.
“Impossible” task
Namely, he was drawn to meet the completely sovereign Chinese Wang Chuqin. He is not only world number one, according to national team captain Jörgen Persson, he has maintained a level of his own this year.
– It’s pretty much the toughest imaginable. He has won all competitions since the New Year. He is the undisputed number one in the world right now, said the icon after the draw.
Truls Möregårdh had faced Chuqin in eight meetings before their match in the second round of the Olympics, and there had been eight losses for the Swede. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Truls had only managed to win a total of four(!) sets during the eight matches. Möregårdh also had the disadvantage of not knowing when the meeting against the Chinese would be, as it was postponed in view of his participation in mixed doubles. But on Wednesday morning it was that time – and it was a Swedish dream start.
Huge drama
Chuqin had two set points in the first set, but Möregårdh saved both, and eventually came out victorious. Möregårdh found himself at an early disadvantage in the second set, but after dream play from the Swede, he went up to 2-0 in the set. In the third set, the Chinese played really well, and won clearly with 11-5. Chuqin also took the fourth set, but Truls played well in the all-important fifth set. Despite a corner ball and a net roll from the Chinese, Truls went up to an 8-4 lead. Chuqin did catch up, but Truls won the fifth set – and was thus only one set away from victory.
Möregårdh got off to a dream start in the sixth set and went up to a 7-3 lead, and thus just four balls from a sensational breakthrough in the Olympics. But Wang took three straight balls in the set – and suddenly there was drama again. But Möregårdh played at his best when it mattered most, and also won the sixth set, and is thus ready for the next round of the Olympic table tennis!
Already tonight, Möregårdh plays the next round.
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