Table Tennis Profile: Jan-Ove Waldner the “Mozart of Table Tennis”
Jan Ove Waldner is a Swedish professional table tennis player and is still considered amongst the top players in the sport. He was born on October 3, 1965 and is followed across the world by his fans as he is nicknamed as the “Mozart of Table Tennis”.
Waldner is amongst the few professional table tennis players who has been playing the sport for 30 years and has managed to maintain balanced hand-eye coordination and swift responses which are mandatory for the sport. China’s head coach Cai Zhenhua commented
about Waldner as he said, “He shows the world that age isn't a problem for table tennis players and that's why I encourage Chinese veterans Kong Linghui and Wang Nan to carry on.” He also holds the honour of winning all the major titles at the World Cup, World
Championships and the Olympics and he is considered to have the best serve technique across the globe.
Jan started playing table tennis at the age of six and was fully supported by his family as they could clearly see the potential in the young boy. Waldner turned professional at the age of 15. It did not take him much time to secure his first professional
win as Jan won the first tournament of his career when he was 16. On winning his first Championship, Waldner was awarded with a Porsche which he could not drive since he was only 16, too young for a driving licence.
Table tennis is hugely followed in China and most of the World’s top table tennis players are Chinese but when the Swedish champion showed his skills in the Chinese turf he was admired by the sport lovers. Jan is known as “Guerilla Forman” in China because
of his brilliance and command over all aspects of the game.
Waldner moved to China for training along with other Swedish players and was surprised to see how strong the sport was followed in China. He learnt a lot during his stay in China as he further sharpened his skills and impressed many Chinese with his versatility
in the sport as he was more famous in China than Bill Clinton in the 1990’s. There are many nicknames assigned with him as he is also termed as the “Michael Jordan of Table Tennis”, “Old War” and “The evergreen tree”.
Jan has been the only player who possesses the strengths and skills required to defeat the Chinese players and reason behind his success was his preparation as he was always one step ahead of his opponents. Former Olympics Doubles Champion Wang Tao commented
about the player as he said, “He had single-handedly confronted six generations of Chinese players wherever he is; he is a brand of table tennis. People give him applause no matter he wins or lose. He is a legend, an example, a symbol.”
Waldner always receives a grand reception every time he visits China over the years as Jiang Jialiang former table tennis World Champion said, “I didn’t expect much from him [Waldner] in the 2000 Olympics but he made it to the finals.” Jan told Jiang that
he would prefer losing to a Korean player than a Chinese player because of China’s dominance in the sport and people believe that it is impossible to defeat China which is wrong as he has conquered the sport in all aspects.
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