Källberg is the first Swede to reach the final in WTT Champions, the highest level on the world tour. But after wins against, among others, world number one Wang Chuqin and Olympic silver medalist Truls Möregårdh, he lost in the final against the world's current best player.
Lin Shidong has excelled this autumn and climbed to second place on the world ranking. On Sunday's final in Frankfurt, he showed why.
Praises Källberg
Lin won with 4–1 in sets (11–5, 11–7, 11–9, 8–11, 11–8) after occasionally sparkling table tennis. He went up 3–0 in sets and also led the fourth with 3–0 before Källberg came to life. The Swede turned the set around and then took the lead in the fifth as well. Then Lin Shidong shifted into an extra gear, turned a 2–4 deficit in the fifth set into a win with 11–8, and claimed the trophy.
After the Olympic Games, Anton has been in incredibly good form. He is so fast. He is very precise, so I'm very happy that I managed to defeat him, says Lin Shidong in the victory interview.
For Anton Källberg, the tournament was still a major success.
He made big headlines already when he defeated Egyptian Omar Assar in the first round. This after deciding the match with a clever trick where Källberg switched hands on his racket at the last moment and hit the winning shot with his left hand.
Ousts World Number One
Källberg then rolled over world number one Wang Chuqin with 3–0 in sets and subsequently won the quarterfinal against home favorite Ricardo Walther.
No Swede had previously reached the semifinal on WTT Champions level. Now, both he and Truls Möregårdh did, and in the all-Swedish semifinal, Anton Källberg was the stronger of the two.
The 27-year-old Källberg was ranked 27th on the world ranking before the tournament, but will now climb significantly.
