Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
The Mozart of Table Tennis
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April 7, 2022
9 minutes
Available for over a year
Swedish table tennis player Jan-Ove Waldner is a living legend in his own country -- and in China. Known as the “Mozart of Table Tennis”, Jan won every major title in a sport traditionally dominated by the Chinese, including a career-defining win at the Olympic games in 1992 - where he became the first and only table-tennis gold medallist from a non-Asian country. At one point, Waldner was said to be more widely recognised in China than President Bill Clinton. He talks to Ashley Byrne about a career that spanned three decades. The programme is a Made-in-Manchester Production.
PHOTO: Jan-Ove Waldner in action in 2004 (Getty Images)