Anton Källberg, who won silver in both the singles and doubles at the recent European Championships, was on his way to an easy victory in the first round of the table tennis tournament in France. He was leading 2–0 in sets and playing really well. Ranefur then had to take a long break because of an arm injury - and that basically turned the match around.
Ranefur took the third set, saved match points in the fourth, and was the stronger player when it all came down to the fifth set.
He was pushing me, it was hard. When it was 10-6 to him in the fourth set, I thought it was over. I tried some new serves and it worked, says Ranefur in the victory interview.
Off the table tennis court, Källberg and Ranefur are good friends. When Källberg got married earlier this fall, Ranefur was his best man.
In the round of 16, Ranefur will face the winner of the match between Germany’s Patrick Franziska and home player Alexis Lebrun.
