JO Waldner was the magician who could win balls from nothing.
But he was also the master of servers.
This clip is brilliant proof of that.
Jan-Ove Waldner is one of Sweden’s greatest ever, and there are few who can surpass him when it comes to feeling for the ball. Waldner was a magician every time he stepped on the table, and it is not for nothing that he had one of the most amazing careers in the history of table tennis, with Olympic gold, six World Cup gold and eleven European Championship gold.
Incredible career
Waldner became the first foreign athlete ever to become a postage stamp in China, and that says little about his status in the giant and ping pong-mad country. He remains the only practitioner from a non-Asian country to win the World Cup, and to this day is a legend in the sport, known for breaking the incredible Chinese dominance.
Waldner had what it took to be so dominant. He mastered the ball like no one else, and could conjure up points from nothing. The best thing about Waldner, however, was his serve. He knew every trick in the book, and it was sometimes impossible for his opponents to read his next move.
The serve that he himself was shocked by
To actually succeed with a serve ace is something very rare, and a sign of how incredibly skilled you are. In the world of tennis, it is much more common, but JO Waldner made it his parade branch. And this clip is perhaps the absolute best example of that. There are tons of clips of JO trolling his opponent away with his patented serve, but none better than this.
JO Waldner even looks surprised himself when he manages to fool his opponent on the other side of the table, while the ball bounces teasingly in just the right place and out for points. This is pure poetry for any sports lover, and truly proves Waldner’s greatness. Respect!
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