Going Up Against a Table Tennis World Champion

When Peter Karlsson schooled Forbes Life India in table tennis

Shravan Bhat
Updated: Jul 23, 2013 08:08:18 AM UTC

Table tennis is one of those funny pastimes: Everyone plays it as an informal game, but few appreciate it as a sport. Even at my own school, the “state level player” was revered during Physical Education class but went back to being just another kid afterwards. The same was not said of the club-level cricket player or the footballer who got a sports scholarship to the US; they were bona fide celebrities.

As my now former colleague Shishir Prasad and I write in the Monsoon Issue of Forbes Life India, table tennis is played by more than 300 million people around the world and is the national sport of China, but globally it hasn’t seen the commercial success of golf, lawn tennis or football.

That being said, the top 10 table tennis players can make $1 million a year and that very dream was etched in the eyes of all kids at a training camp in Mumbai. The camp was being headed by legendary Swedish player Peter Karlsson.

Peter-Karlsson
Peter Karlsson demonstrates the forehand topspin. Photo: Vikas Khot

He sat down with us for about and hour before sparring with Indian players including former Indian champion Kamlesh Mehta. Watch his poise, timing and wrist work as he cracks a mesmerising backhand topspin rally with Mehta, who helped organise the Mumbai training camp.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChXHv6tyzqo[/youtube]

 

Every evening, a TT table gets wheeled out at Forbes India office where journalists take each other on in impassioned encounters. After Karlsson had played a few points with Mehta, we couldn’t resist asking him for a few minutes at the table too. Shishir’s penholder-grip style was initially no match for Karlsson’s service.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsMiR5l2mU0[/youtube]

However what happened next, sadly not caught on camera, was something that Shishir will never live down. He played a great deep shot that forced Karlsson to chip the ball and Shishir smashed a winner – something he’ll no doubt tell his grandchildren about.

Playing with the legendary Swede was a great experience but we’re lucky he didn’t play like he could in his heydays. Karlsson is also an accomplished doubles player and his win with Tomas von Scheele against the mighty Chinese duo of Wang Tao and Lu Lin in 1991 is stuff of legend. The Swedish team beat the Chinese by studying their opponents, innovating their own training methods and improvising at crucial times during rallies.

Read our full feature on TT legend Peter Karlsson in the monsoon issue of Forbes Life India which is out on stands. Hurry up. Grab your copy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN3ofIh6aLc[/youtube]

 

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.

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