The Japanese won 4–2 in sets (11–8, 5–11, 11–9, 10–12, 14–12,11–2) and after the loss in Hong Kong, Truls Möregårdh was an unusually composed loser.
"There are few times you see me like this after a loss, I'm usually very angry and disappointed. But I don't know, it feels like I tried everything and did what I could," he tells SVT.
Missed set points
It was an even final between world number four Truls Möregårdh and world number five Tomokazu Harimoto. They took every other set to 2–2. In the fifth, the Swede had several set points, but the Japanese came back and won 14–12. In the sixth, Möregårdh had nothing to fight back for, he only won two points.
What if it felt like the fifth set decided the match?
"Yes, apparently it did. I thought I was ready for the sixth set anyway, but then he was just too damn good," says Möregårdh.
He reached the final without having to play a single ball. His opponent in the semi-final earlier in the day, Chinese world number one Wang Chuqin, was forced to walk over.
I saw in the warm-up that he had back pain, it looked terrible. I know from experience that it is impossible to play.
Fantastic year
A victory in the WTT final would have meant a perfect end to the season where, in addition to the European Championship bronze, he has also won two competitions on the World Tour this year, in Malmö and in Montpellier.
2025 is absolutely fantastic of course, it would have been almost too good to be true to win this competition too, says Möregårdh to SVT.
He will receive around 400,000 kronor ($44,000) for second place in Hong Kong.
