Table tennis | Junior success should fuel senior glory: Karlsson

Sweden’s Peter Karlsson admitted that he was “a bit stubborn” during his playing days, but only in the sense that he possessed an unshakeable belief in his own abilities.

That unwavering self-confidence was one of the driving forces behind a glittering career in which he won five World Table Tennis Championships titles — four team (Dortmund 1989, Chiba 1991, Gothenburg 1993 and Kuala Lumpur 2000) and one men’s doubles (in 1991 with Thomas von Scheele) — and climbed to a career-high world ranking of No. 10 in singles.

The 57-year-old believes that the same trait has largely shaped his successful coaching career spanning nearly two decades. During an interaction with the media at a meet-and-greet event organised by UTT franchise HVR Kolkata Thunderblades, at the South Goa Table Tennis Council on Wednesday, Karlsson was categorical in saying that Indian table tennis’ next big leap would depend on how effectively the gap between outstanding junior success and sustained excellence at the senior level could be bridged.

“India is ranked 13th in the world in men’s and 16th in women’s. It has achieved amazing results. Now, it starts to become really difficult to take the next step. And there, I think, what Ultimate Table Tennis is doing is fantastic,” he said.

At the same time, the legend, who has worked with Sweden’s leading players, including 2019 World Championships men’s singles silver medallist Mattias Karlsson (formerly Mattias Falck), besides guiding the careers of Kristian Karlsson and Anton Kallberg, added: “It’s going to be very interesting to see if India can transform good youth and junior players into good senior players. Because on the youth side, India is doing extremely well. If you see the results on the youth side and convert them into the senior side, India could be in the top five.”