Möregårdh warned already directly after Sunday's Olympic Games final that it would be tough to get up to play the round of 16 in the team event at 10 o'clock the next day.
And he looked a bit worn out when he faced Denmark's Anders Lind. He also had a stomach ache.
It was tough. These long rallies took more out of my body than I thought. I need to recharge and sleep a bit. I only slept for an hour last night, says Möregårdh.
"Enormously difficult recharge"
Luckily, teammates Anton Källberg and Kristian Karlsson had eased the pressure by winning the opening doubles with 3–1 in sets.
Kristian and I said two days ago that we would need to take responsibility against Denmark and have respect for the fact that it has been an enormously difficult recharge for Truls. It was fun to be able to play as well as we did, says Karlsson.
Möregårdh was then down 1–2 in sets, but somehow managed to gather his strength and win two straight sets to victory. In the fifth and decisive set, he turned a 7–9 deficit into an 11–9 win.
I didn't know he wasn't feeling well today. It's incredibly strong of him to win his match with the resources he had today. Huge praise to him, says Anton Källberg.
Can meet Germany
Kristian Karlsson was then kind enough to secure a Swedish victory directly, by beating Jonathan Groth 3–0 in sets. Otherwise, Truls Möregårdh would have been forced to play another match.
It was nice. But I'm mostly super happy for Kristian's sake and his self-confidence. Damn, when he plays like this, he can beat a lot of good players, says Möregårdh.
In the quarterfinals, which will likely be played on Tuesday evening, either second-seeded Germany or Canada awaits.
