Truls Möregårdh was super successful in the Olympics.
Now he reveals the completely unique nickname he got in ping pong-crazy China.
– It feels really scary, he says to Radiosporten.
Truls Möregårdh was still waiting for his big international breakthrough when he entered this summer’s Olympic tournament in Paris. But once there he captivated the world with his creative and erratic play, and it was amid huge fanfare that he defeated Chinese world number one Wang Chuqin en route to the final.
Historic success
Once there, however, the Chinese world star Fan Zhendong became too difficult, but Möregårdh did not have to wait very long for the next success. In the team competition, Möregårdh was the key cog that took Sweden all the way to a sensational final, and when he left Paris, Möregårdh did so with two silver medals – and a career changed forever.
Möregårdh has become the new favorite of the ping pong world, and he has now become a real profile even in China, where ping pong is a bit of a national sport. It is not unusual for the Chinese to give their sporting heroes nicknames, and Möregårdh tells us, among other things, that Fan Zhendong, who Möregårdh lost the final against, has one of the most unique ones.
– They often give nicknames to players the players they like very much. Fan Zhendong is called the “little fat man”, it might not be so kind, he tells Radiosporten.
The new nickname that says it all
But Truls Möregårdh’s enormous popularity after this summer’s Olympics has also meant that he now has his very own nickname in China – and it is a much more glorious one.
– I have started to be called “Mo-God”. God felt more fun to be called than the little fat man anyway. I don’t know how they come up with everything, he says.
For Truls Möregårdh, it is a strange situation, where he went from a relative unknown to a sports hero of rank in just a few days.
– It feels really scary, of course. Your whole life and ping pong career change in a few days there in Paris. It’s hard to understand when you’re there in that bubble, but now I really understand how big an impact it had, he says.
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