Photo: Bildbyrån
Sweden’s best table tennis player of all time pays tribute to the new star in the sky.
In SVT’s “Sportspegeln”, JO Waldner says that Truls Möregårdh is similar to him and has a great future ahead of him.
– We are quite similar in playing style, play a lot with feeling, good game sense, can make different shots, he says.
Not many people had expected that in advance Truls Möregårdh22, would play for an individual Olympic silver medal in table tennis this summer. Nor did it feel too likely with a team silver in the same championship. But miracles still happen!
“Quite similar in style of play”
Truls once again put Sweden on the map when it comes to table tennis around the world. Not since JO Waldner, Jorgen Persson and Mikael Appelgrens days we have had a player at the same high level.
After the Olympic tournament, Truls took the opportunity to visit China and play there. It is a country where sport is at its greatest. If you want to climb to the top of the ranking lists, you have to become king in China. Something that JO Waldner, 59, knows all about. Now our greatest ping-pong player ever pays tribute to his heir to the throne.
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– We are quite similar in playing style, play a lot with feeling, good game sense, can make different shots. Ping-pong today is quite static, but Truls can hit different balls with his backhand where he blocks, he says in SVT’s “Sportspegeln”.
That’s why Truls are loved in China
Waldner says that he was in China for a training camp for the first time when he was 14 years old. In total, he has made approximately 150 visits to the country in the east. He once played at an event for a furniture company and over 120,000 people showed up to see “The Eternal Tree” play.
Now it could be the same for Truls. JO Waldner believes that the Chinese appreciate his playing style, which is reminiscent of Waldner’s own. He has a feeling and a joy for the game that is not always found in the domestic players who are more like robots.
– He picks up balloons, pulls incredible forehands and has special serves. That makes him so big in China, says the former star.
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– They are more like machines and it is important to make holes in the machine immediately the first time you meet them, then they gain respect, he continues.
You put on an incredible Olympics this summer, Truls. Just to keep fighting and grinding to be the very best in the world. It is not at all impossible.
Nice that you get such good support from JO. Both he and us other Swedes believe in you.
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