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Mattias Falck

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Mattias Falck (né Karlsson;[6] Swedish pronunciation: [maˈtîːas fǎlk], born 7 September 1991) is a Swedish table tennis player.

Mattias Falck
Falck in 2016
Personal information
Native nameMattias Karlsson
Born (1991-09-07) 7 September 1991 (age 33)
Karlskrona, Sweden[1]
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Weight88 kg (194 lb)[2]
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon blade; Yasaka Rakza PO (Black, 2.00mm, FH); Yasaka Rakza X (Red, 2.3mm, BH)[3]
Highest ranking7 (August 2019)[4]
Current ranking20 (20 February 2024)[5]
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  Sweden
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Houston Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2019 Budapest Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Halmstad Team
European Games
Silver medal – second place 2019 Minsk Team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Munich Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Malmö Team
Silver medal – second place 2011 Gdansk-Sopot Team
Silver medal – second place 2012 Herning Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2016 Budapest Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2018 Alicante Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Yekaterinburg Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Budapest Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Nantes Team
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Warsaw Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Cluj-Napoca Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Munich Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Linz Doubles
Europe Top-16
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Thessaloniki Singles

Career

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He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics as he was part of the Swedish team in the men's team event.[2] Mattias won two medals at the 2016 European Table Tennis Championships. Paired with Matilda Ekholm he won a silver medal in mixed doubles,[7] and paired with Kristian Karlsson he won a bronze medal in men's doubles.[8] He won the Swedish National team championship with Halmstad BTK 2018 same years as he was a part of the Swedish National team who won a bronze medal at WTTC 2018 which was played in Halmstad Arena (the same arena where Halmstad BTK won gold a month later).

In April 2019, he won a silver medal in the men's singles competition during the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, after losing the final to Ma Long from China.[9]

Falck's highest world rank was 7th, attained in August 2019.[10]

In 2020, Falck upset Xu Xin at the WTT Macau event in ITTF's restart campaign following the coronavirus pandemic.[11]

2021

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In March, Falck was upset by Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the quarter-finals of the WTT Contender event at WTT Doha. He was upset in the round of 32 by An Jaehyun in the WTT Star Contender event.[12]

In June, Falck reached the semi-finals of the European Table Tennis Championships, where he was upset in the semi-finals by eventual champion Timo Boll.[13]

Falck had a disappointing Olympics, losing in the round of 16 in the singles event to Omar Assar. In the team event, Sweden defeated USA in the first round 3–1, but Falck was upset Kanak Jha.[14] Sweden lost to Japan in the quarter-finals after Koki Niwa upset Falck in the fourth round. Niwa later stated that Falck's forehand was not in good condition.[15]

Falck and Kristian Karlsson became World champions in the men's doubles at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships becoming the first Swedish duo to win gold since 1991.[16]

2023

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In August, Falck won WTT Contender title at Rio De Janeiro after defeating Sora Matsushima from Japan in 4-2 set score and winning the WTT title for the very first time.[17] In September Mattias Falck was playing in the Swedish National team that won the 2023 STUPA European Table Tennis Championships in Malmö.[18] That victory marked Sweden's first team title win in 21 years. The team also consisted of Truls Moregardh, Kristian Karlsson and Anton Kallberg. Jorgen Persson was head coach.

Playing style

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Falck plays with short pips on his forehand. He has stated that his style benefited from the switch to the plastic ball and that he was surprised that more men with pips have not emerged since the ball switch.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Mattias Karlsson-Falck". olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Mattias Karlsson". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Falck Mattias Equipment and Playing Style; PingSunday". 27 April 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  4. ^ "ITTF World Ranking Progression". ittf.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  5. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking". ittf.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  6. ^ Kingdahl, Thomas (7 June 2022). "Mattias Falck bytte namn för att hedra sin frus mamma" [Mattias Falck changed name to honor his wife's mom]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Svenskt silver i bordtennis-EM".
  8. ^ "Dubbelparet deppade efter EM-bronset". 22 October 2016.
  9. ^ "Falck tar VM-silvret". Expressen (in Swedish). 28 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  10. ^ "WR Progress – Seniors".
  11. ^ "WTT Doha 2021 Preview Part 4: Men's Singles Seeds 5 Through 8 – Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  12. ^ "An Jaehyun Avenges WTTC Semi-final Loss With 3–0 Win Over Mattias Falck". edgesandnets.com. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Timo Boll Defeats Dimitrij Ovtcharov To Win Eighth European Championship". edgesandnets.com. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Kanak Jha Upsets Mattias Falck in USA's Losing Effort to Sweden". edgesandnets.com. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Olympic Table Tennis Team Quarterfinal Round-Up". edgesandnets.com. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  16. ^ Krigsman, Linn; Åsberg, Stefan (29 November 2021). "Bordtennis: Sverige tog VM-guld i herrdubbeln". SVT Sport (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Mattias Falck wins WTT Contender event for the first time!". TTCrunch. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  18. ^ "EM-Guld till Sverige i bordtennis 2023! Svensk vinst i Malmö" (in Swedish). 18 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Mattias Falck Interview With European Youth Table Tennis Organization". edgesandnets.com. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
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