The Europe Smash, held in Malmo, Sweden, from 14/8 to 24/8, boasted a prize pool of approximately 1.55 million USD. Considered the "Grand Slam of table tennis," the event's singles titles had been exclusively won by Chinese players in the previous seven editions. However, with the tournament held in Europe for the first time, 23-year-old home favorite Truls Moregardh made history.
The sixth-seeded Moregardh reached the final after victories against Eduard Ionescu (3-1), Sora Matsushima (3-2), Cho Dae-seong (3-0), An Jae-hyun (4-2), and Benedikt Duda (4-0).
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Truls Moregardh celebrates his victory over Lin Shidong in the final of the Europe Smash table tennis tournament in Malmo, Sweden, on the evening of 24/8/2025. Photo: WTT |
Truls Moregardh celebrates his victory over Lin Shidong in the final of the Europe Smash table tennis tournament in Malmo, Sweden, on the evening of 24/8/2025. Photo: WTT
On the other side of the draw, world number one Lin Shidong cruised to the final, defeating Nicholas Lum and Omar Assar (both 3-0), Ricardo Walther (3-1), Dang Qiu (4-0), and Simon Gauzy (4-3).
The final between Moregardh and Lin on the evening of 24/8 was a captivating back-and-forth affair. The Swede took the first game 11-8, but Lin leveled the match with the same score in the second. Moregardh then won the next two games 12-10 and 11-8. The top seed refused to give up, taking the fifth and sixth games 11-4 and 13-11 respectively.
With the score tied at 9-9 in the final game, Moregardh took the lead with a forehand shot close to the left edge of the table, which Lin couldn't reach. Serving next, Moregardh attacked relentlessly on the decisive point. Lin was forced back several meters from the table but miraculously returned the ball. It took eight consecutive shots before Moregardh finally forced an error, securing the historic victory.
Moregardh's 4-3 triumph marked a significant moment in table tennis history. The 23-year-old appeared stunned, raising his hands to his head in disbelief.
Moregardh, who won two silver medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics (men's singles and team), had never won a world-class title before this victory.
In the seven previous Grand Smash tournaments, all 14 singles champions were Chinese. Lin had won the men's singles title twice, while Wang Chuqin had claimed it three times. Wang was absent from the Europe Smash due to master's degree examinations at Peking University.
In the women's singles, world number one Sun Yingsha continued her dominance, defeating compatriot Wang Manyu 4-2 in the final. This was Sun's fourth Grand Smash title.
Xuan Binh
