Angry Swedish star secures 3-2 win against China

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Angry Swedish star secures 3-2 win against China
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

"But put it down. You're so fucking bad," Möregårdh shouted during the fifth set.

The referee had then disallowed the Swede's serve, as the angle of the throw was judged to be over 30 degrees.

The Swede also said that the referee took more chances than he thought and that he continued to be angry until he was warned.

"It felt like a costly yellow card to receive. It's a difficult system, when it's two degrees here, two degrees there. Sometimes it's wrong and sometimes it's not, and then they themselves say that sometimes it can be wrong because it's difficult to be right all the time," Möregårdh tells SVT.

"It's a little hard to keep your head up then."

The 24-year-old quickly recovered, however, winning the fifth set and thus the match. The victory gave Sweden a 2–1 lead, but after debutant Elias Ranefur - who had previously beaten world number six Lin Shidong 3–2 - lost to Wang Chuqin 0–3, the meeting with China ended with a fifth and decisive match.

“Fantastic”

Anton Källberg against Lin Shidong.

A duel that ended with blue-and-yellow joy after 3–2.

Sweden thus took its first victory against China in 26 years.

"It feels fantastic, of course. It was 2000 since we last managed to beat them and that was also when they won a team match at a World Cup. It's pretty easy to understand how big a feat this is and how difficult it is to do. It feels cool to be a part of it," Möregårdh says.

"It's a bit sad, but that's when things really start to get serious, that's when the playoffs start. We're going into this in a better position as we won the group, but now we have to step up. If we play as well as we did today then it's going to be hard to beat us."

China is coming back

Källberg:

"It doesn't feel like everyone in China has completely hit their stride. They will probably come back better and stronger when the playoffs get underway," he tells SVT.

"You can't just float away and think that everything will go this well in every match. It's still careful and hard work."

South Korea was the first team to win against China, when they won 3–1 on Saturday.

Earlier in the group, Sweden won against England, 3–1, and against South Korea, 3–0. The playoffs, where Blågult is the top seed, start next week.

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By TT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers

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