Only two Swedes remain when the men's singles in the European Championship in Linz enter the round of 16 on Saturday.
Anton Källberg booked his place after defeating national team colleague Kristian Karlsson on Friday. Karlsson took control of the match and went up to three set balls in the first set, but then lost his grip. Källberg fought his way back and eventually won the set 14–12.
Exhausted winner
The second set went quickly, 11–7, before Kristian Karlsson won the third with 11–8. In the fourth, Karlsson again had several set balls to level the match, but once again Källberg turned it around to win the set.
Karlsson couldn't respond to that. Anton Källberg won the fifth set with 11–7 and the match with 4–1 in sets.
I think he's the toughest opponent in Europe for me. I haven't beaten him in a decade. I lost the first set and that was mentally important. I think he felt that too, says Karlsson to SVT.
In the round of 16, Källberg will face challenging opposition in the form of fifth-seeded Slovenian Darko Jorgic. Until then, the focus will be on one thing: rest.
I feel pretty finished, I have very little energy left in my body. It was very tough, both mentally and physically. I'm glad I managed to win, but I'm very tired, says Källberg.
Second-seeded Truls Möregårdh is also through. The Olympic silver medalist from last summer had some trouble with young Romanian Eduard Ionescu but eventually won with 4–0 in sets (13–11, 11–7, 12–10, 11–4).
Falck out of luck
Möregårdh's next task will be Frenchman Thibault Poret, who unexpectedly defeated Englishman Liam Pitchford.
I feel very good. I think most things are working and when it's even, I dare to do those unexpected things that you need confidence for. If I can keep this up, it's going to be very good, says Möregårdh.
However, there will only be a maximum of one Swedish medal in the singles tournament. Anton Källberg and Truls Möregårdh will face each other in a potential quarterfinal.
For Mattias Falck, it ended as expected against top-seeded Félix Lebrun. The 18-year-old Frenchman played brilliantly and advanced to the round of 16 via 4–0 in sets (11–9, 11–4, 11–6, 11–8).
