First he made it to the quarter-finals – in 21 minutes.
A few hours later, he secured a place in the round of 16 in singles.
– It will be a lot of fun, says Kristian Karlsson, who in the next round will face the toughest possible opposition.
In the WC in Houston two ago took Christian Karlsson and Mattias Falck gold in the men’s doubles.
Was over in 21 minutes
Now the hunt for a new WC triumph has begun. On Tuesday, the Swedish pair easily progressed to the quarter-finals of the WC in Durban. The Polish pair Samuel Kulczycki/Maciej Kubik were defeated with the set numbers 11–5, 11–4, 13–11 in just 21 minutes.
Later that day, it was Kristian Karlsson’s time again, when he faced Belgian Adrien Rassenfosse (ranked 94) in the singles tournament.
Trollhättansonen got the match off to a flying start and won the first set with a crushing 11–1. Rassenfosse certainly played up, but was never close to upsetting the Swede, who won easily 4–1 in the set. Thus, he has only dropped one set in the two opening rounds.
Set against the best of all time
In the next match, however, a very tough task awaits Karlsson, who will face world number three Ma Long. The 34-year-old Chinese has won everything there is to win, including 13 World Cup golds and five Olympic golds, and is seen by many as the sport’s all-time great.
– I have met him several times and it will be a very fun match. It might be the last time you get a chance to meet him in a WC, so I’m looking forward to it very much, says Karlsson in Viaplay.
Since before, Truls Möregårdh has advanced to the round of 16, where the Egyptian Omar Assar awaits.
The matches will be played tomorrow, Wednesday.
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