Both “JO” and “Äpplet” were during the 1980s and 1990s big profiles in the Swedish table tennis national team. Together with current national team captain Jörgen Persson, the duo won several WC gold medals as a team. Late on Wednesday evening, they sat up in different parts of Stockholm and watched Sweden’s feat against Japan in the Olympic semi-finals in Paris.
It poured in over 100 text messages, it’s absolutely insane. What a turnaround, says Waldner to Aftonbladet.
It’s so freaking big. The biggest thing that happened here in the Olympics for Sweden. Actually even bigger than Trul’s final, Appelgren tells the newspaper.
Truls Möregårdh (silver in singles previously during the Olympics), Kristian Karlsson and Anton Källberg turned a 0–2 deficit into a 3–2 victory and the great hero Källberg, ranked 24th in the world, also overturned a 0–2 deficit in sets to 3–2 victory in the final single against world number nine Tomokazu Harimoto. Sweden thus secured a first historic Olympic team medal in table tennis.
I said that turning Anton now is a sick feat and he does it. Finally he got to show off what he can do. It was magical and then everyone gets to win a match. It is not possible to win in a better way, it is a dream in a team match, says Waldner.
On Friday at 3 p.m., either China or France await in the final for Sweden.