During the summer's Olympic Games in Paris, silver medalist Truls Möregårdh caused an upset in the singles tournament against the Chinese world number one Wang Chuqin in the second round, and Sweden later also took Olympic silver in the team event.
In Paralympics, Daniel Gustafsson believes it will require something similar when he faces Belgian Laurens Devos, who has won gold in two consecutive Paralympics in class 9, in the quarterfinal on Wednesday. It's been a long time since the 24-year-old lost a match at all.
"Going to be super fun"
It's going to be super fun, of course. It will require something extra, he hasn't lost a match in many years now. I'll have to try to pull off an upset like Truls, then it should go well, says Daniel Gustafsson to SVT.
Just like at the Olympic Games, the table tennis is being played at the South Paris Arena, and Gustafsson enjoyed himself when he knocked out Chinese Zhao Yiqing with 3–0 in sets in the round of 16. The set scores were 11–5, 11–9, 11–9.
I'm enjoying myself to the max in every match. I just want to play more and more here, it's a fantastic audience and atmosphere, he says.
He made his Paralympics debut in doubles with Emil Andersson, but that adventure ended in Friday's quarterfinal.
Gustafsson was on his way to qualifying for the Paralympics already in Tokyo three years ago, but when a close friend tragically passed away, he chose to pause his national team career, writes the Swedish Paralympic Committee on its website.
After a three-year break, he made a comeback and took European Championship bronze in 2023. This spring, he was ranked as number three in the world.
"Not particularly nervous"
With a win in the quarterfinal, a medal is secured since a semifinal spot means at least a shared bronze.
This also applies to Smilla Sand, who won her round of 16 against Norwegian Jenny Slettum convincingly. It was a 3–0 win after set scores of 11–6, 11–5, 11–7. Sand is a Paralympics debutant and ranked sixth in the world in class 7. For Sand, British player Bly Twomey awaits in Wednesday's quarterfinal.
Veteran Emil Andersson (playing on Wednesday) and Jonas Hansson (playing tonight) have also advanced to the quarterfinal.
