PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Jan-Ove Waldner makes an unexpected comeback, if only for one day.
No one less than his own brother Kjell-Åke stands for the resistance.
– We came to the conclusion that I need a handicap, so I will probably start with the result 4-0, says Kjell-Åke Waldner.
Jan-Ove Waldner is ranked by many as the best table tennis player of all time. The 57-year-old, who goes by the nickname “The Evergreen Tree” in China, has countless awards over the years, and it is difficult to count everything he has won during his unparalleled career. In 2022, he also published the book “Waldner: The King” where he talks about his career.
Waldner’s comeback
The career is now put on hold, but on Tuesday, believe it or not, there will be a comeback for JO. It is about an exhibition match where the brother Kjell-Åke Waldner will stand for the opposition, which is responsible for Ingarö IF’s table tennis section.
– We have talked about it for a long time, that JO should come and do something for our section, participate in some way. So now the time has come and we think we will do it widely, so everyone who wants is welcome to come and have a look, says Kjell-Åke Walnder to the newspaper Mitt I Stockholm.
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Kjell-Åke Waldner is clear that he is not particularly confident of victory.
– We won two SM golds as a team together in the 80s, but that’s over 30 years ago now. We actually tried playing a game yesterday, for the first time in 15 years, and it was a lot of fun. It brings back a lot of memories from when we were younger, when we played together a lot. But we came to the conclusion that I need a handicap, so I will probably start with the result 4-0, if we go to 11, says Kjell-Åke.
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“Otherwise it gets weird”
The two brothers won SM gold together in the 1980s, and JO himself is not entirely convinced that the brother will have any advantage in the match.
– We won two SM golds as a team together in the 80s, but that’s over 30 years ago now. We’ll see, we might run from 0-0. I might need some balls to get started. We do this for fun, mostly for the sake of the young people, but I have to win. Otherwise it gets weird. I can’t be beaten by my brother, says JO Waldner to the newspaper.
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After the match between the Waldner brothers, those who want to challenge the JO in a match will come.
– We want to give our own members the chance to play against him, so he will go around to as many as possible, concludes Kjell-Åke.
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