Being top dog is overrated. Today, both of the #1 seeds in the NBA playoffs (the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference and the Los Angeles Lakers in the West) stumbled out of the gate against their eighth-seeded opponents (the Orlando Magic and the Portland Trail Blazers, respectively). While it is far too early for either underdog squad to celebrate, two up-and-coming Swedish siblings certainly have the results to exult. Meet Anton and Christina Källberg, the brother-and-sister act causing double trouble. The occasion is the Sweden Tour, a new creation of the Swedish Table Tennis Association. Like an insect, the tour has six legs. Culminating in December, the tour offers 40,000 Euros in prize money and some much-needed exercise for the competition-starved athletes. In Köping, Sweden, players gathered for the tour's maiden voyage. There, Christina Källberg, ranked 198th in the world, defeated top-seeded defender Linda Bergström, listed much higher at 80th, in straight and remarkably consistent sets, (11-7, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7) "I am physically stronger now than I had been before," said Christina. "My conditioning training is paying off and I can feel it working when using my forehand – I’m much more stable on both opening shots and when I go for the more aggressive topspins." These aggressive forehand topspins seem to run in the family, as her brother Anton relied heavily on this exact weapon to win the eighth Düsseldorf Masters in July. Back home in Sweden, the world #57 Källberg upset #43 Jon Persson in the final, (11-3, 11-5, 11-1, 11-7). "I felt a good touch on the ball from the get-go, and for sure I held a bit of an advantage having played a few competition matches in the Düsseldorf Masters competition this summer," said Anton Källberg. "Of course it is nice to win – we had a good field of players competing here in Köping so I am very happy." Like they say, every dog has its day. In this case, it was not the top dogs but the underdogs who seized it. Just ask the Bucks and the Lakers.

More at ITTF