In the Mount Rushmore of Swedish table tennis, the visage of Jörgen Persson looms large. Along with Stellan Bengtsson and Jan-Ove Waldner, Persson completes the triumvirate of Swedes to hoist a world championship trophy in singles. Only two others from their land of less than ten million have even made the finals: Tage Flisberg in 1954, and Mattias Falck 65 years later. If your calculations are correct, that means that Sweden is still very much a factor in world table tennis. During Sweden's heyday, led by Waldner and Persson, they won three consecutive world team championships from 1989-1993, adding a punctuation mark in 2000. Although Waldner is heralded as the "Mozart of table tennis," this does not relegate Persson to the role of Salieri. A tireless, fearless player, he forehand-looped and backhand-smashed his way to seven consecutive Olympics. Now, a talented new generation of Swedes is working to threaten China's dominance, with the aforementioned Mattias Falck leading the surge. Persson has been there every step of the way, seamlessly transitioning from player, to player-coach, to personally coaching Mattias Falck all the way to the men's singles final at this year's World Championships in Budapest. Blessed to have a living legend so eager to help pass the torch, this week the Swedish men's team officially appointed Persson the new assistant coach. According to Mikael Andersson, the High Performance Director for the Swedish Table Tennis Association, it was a no-brainer. "It would be madness not to use Jörgen with all his knowledge and experience," said Andersson. "No matter who is coaching or responsible we are in a really positive trend now with medals on the last five big championships." As for Persson himself, it is not a responsibility he bears lightly. "I am very proud and honored over this renewed trust, it is always a big honour to wear the blue and yellow colors no matter if you are a player or coach," said Persson. "I am convinced that my knowledge and experience from my very long career will help our players in many ways." Coach Persson had a front-row seat for the challenges facing his team at this week's 2019 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open, watching his players fall one by one to the visiting Chinese. Summoning Kurt Vonnegut's stoicism, Persson could only shrug, "That’s the way it goes." With the 2020 World Team Championships and the 2020 Olympics to prepare for, Persson will be a strong guiding force to determine the way it goes.

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