King Carl XVI Gustaf missed Truls Möregårdh’s last Olympic final.
He may get another chance on Friday.
Sweden’s table tennis men are ready for the semi-finals after a 3-0 win against Germany.
The Swedish royal couple arrived in Paris a day late to catch the men’s singles final on Sunday. But on Tuesday, the king and queen took their seats in the Olympic table tennis arena and got to see Truls Möregårdh spin on his brilliant form.
They also got to see a Swedish men’s table tennis team reach the Olympic semi-finals for the first time.
The double set the tone
Dimitrij Ovtcharov had Möregårdh in the dock, it must be said. But the newly minted silver medalist from Hovmantorp is hard to shake at the moment. Even though Ovtcharov had 2–1 in the set, and 7–7 in the fourth, it was a Swedish victory. Truls Möregårdh won the last two sets, 11–8, 11–9.
It meant 2–0 in matches for Sweden.
Möregårdh’s form seems to have rubbed off on his teammates.
Because it was Anton Källberg and Kristian Karlsson who set the tone in the quarter-final against Germany. Veteran Timo Boll and Qiu Dang are two class players, but the Swedish doubles pair played brilliantly, winning in three straight sets and giving Sweden a heavy 1–0 lead.
Japan next
After Möregårdh’s victory, Källberg had the chance to decide in his singles match against 43-year-old Timo Boll. The German may have loads of Olympic and World Cup medals, but he is probably past his very best years as a singles player.
Källberg did not miss that chance. The 26-year-old won 3–1 in sets and sent Sweden to the game for the Olympic medals.
Japan now awaits in the semi-finals on Wednesday at 20:00. In the 2021 Olympics, it was Japan, then in the quarter-finals, who knocked out Sweden.
Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI Gustaf applaud after Truls Möregårdh won his singles match against Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov during Tuesday’s Olympic quarter-finals in table tennis.
Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI Gustaf applaud after Truls Möregårdh won his singles match against Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov during Tuesday’s Olympic quarter-finals in table tennis.
Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT