The Swedish Table Tennis Association and Sveriges Television, SVT, have now agreed to broadcast the entire European Table Tennis Championships for teams, which will be played in Malmö Arena September 10-17, 2023, on SVT’s channels. The agreement covers at least twelve hours live on SVT1 or SVT2.
In recent years, SVT has invested in table tennis and has, among other things, broadcast the World Championships in Halmstad 2018 where the Swedish men’s team took bronze, the World Championships in Budapest 2019 where Mattias Falck took silver, the World Championships in Houston where Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson took gold in doubles and Truls Möregårdh silver in singles and the European Championships in Munich as recently as last autumn where Falck/Karlsson won yet another doubles title.
– It is extremely gratifying and fun to be able to give those who, against the odds are not in Malmö Arena, the opportunity to watch absolute top-class table tennis at home on the TV. SVT is clearly at the forefront when it comes to sports, so we are really looking forward to this collaboration, says Dennis Lindahl, chairman of the Swedish Table Tennis Association.
– Table tennis is a sport that we know our audience likes, there is a proud history and several Swedish players at the highest European level nowadays. We always want to be there when Swedish athletes fight for medals in major international championships, and now that the European Championships are on home soil, of course it feels extra interesting, says SVT’s acting sports director Max Bursell.
The Swedish men’s team will begin the EC adventure on the opening day, Sunday 10 September, while the women’s first match will be played either Sunday 10 September or Monday 11 September, depending on whether they are seeded or not.
– Of course we are aiming for gold at home, hopefully with good support from the crowd, there is nothing else, says men’s national team captain Jörgen Persson.
One of the world’s largest production companies, NEP, will manage the television production that is broadcast both in Sweden and internationally.
Photo: Linda Carlsson