Freeway - J.O The everlasting green three

J.O The everlasting green three

He has an unbelievable feeling for
the game and at each game he
surprises his opponent with a new
brilliant swing. Naturally it is Jan
Ove Waldner who this described. He
might not be the biggest celebrity in
Sweden, but he is absolutely the best
ping-pong player in the whole world.

Jan Ove Waldner was born 3 October
in 1965 in Norsborg, Stockholm. He
started playing when he was very young
and in 1977 he made his debut in the
Swedish Elitserien. After that his career
has been more than successful.

Sweden vs China
Despite the fact that he doesn’t get the attention he deserves here in Sweden he definitively gets it in China. In China he is like a pop star, young girls want to have his children and everyone knows him as "The everlasting green three". You can show almost any Chinese a picture of Jan Ove and ask if they know who he is and everyone will of course answer he is that ping-pong player. Here in Sweden it is far from that; he is not bigger then anyone else.
Another example that proves how big Jan Ove is in China can be shown with the investigation that was made a few years ago. According to that he was the most known foreigner after the president of the USA. It is also in China his future is; he has started a pub in Beijing. Almost everyone in China wants to start a company with him because his name is very important in the business circle.

Nicknames
Jan Ove Waldner has many nicknames the. Two biggest are “Mozart of ping-pong” (mostly in Germany) and “The ever lasting green three” (in China). Why he is so big in China is not hard to understand. He has defeated four generations of Chinese players and that in a country where ping-pong is a national sport.

Unbelievable shots and plays
In the Olympic championships 2004 he did a shot that no one will ever manage do again. He shot the ball behind his back with out looking. In an interview later on he explained that when he took the shot he thought “If I don't manage to make the shot I will just go right to the coach”. In 1997 Jan Ove won the World championships in the singles and he did that by going through the tournament without losing one set (21-0). In ping-pong that is one of the greatest achievements.

Sources
SVT
Sportguiden
SV
Aftonbladet
DI
DI
Expressen