MIA Jan-Ove Waldner

From ITTF.com

The name is that of Jan-Ove Waldner, in many people’s eyes the greatest table tennis player of all time and of course Plato is correct, the famous name does not appear on the ITTF Men’s Ranking list for June 2008.

Born on 3rd October 1965, the legendary Swede first entered the ITTF Men’s World Ranking list in August 1982 in an era before technology was producing wonderous computerised list that have turned coaches and players into mathematical wizards.

One year later in March 1983 when the next World Ranking were issued, Jan-Ove Waldner had secured a top ten place, he was ranked ninth.

Now let us put that into current prospective; a new player comes on the scene, on the second ranking, within five months, they occupy a top ten place. It is a virtual impossibility, the nearest in the current era to achieve such a feat is the remarkable Feng Tianwei of Singapore.

She entered the ITTF Women’s World Rankings in July 2007 at no. 73 and now eleven months later is at number nine; however, she had a head start on Jan-Ove Waldner.

She played in China reached international level but of course gaining in a place in the Chinese women’s team is no easy task, she moved to Singapore and then meteoric progress. The progress of Feng Tianwei cannot be compared with that of Jan-Ove Waldner.

He occupied at top ten spot at the age of seventeen.

In April 1984 he progressed to number four, in June 1987 he was at number two and then in June 1989 at number one; a position he maintained until April 1991.

He returned to the top spot in August 1992 and stayed in that position until February 1994, in June 1995 he regain the exalted spot and was also at number one from May to October 1997.

Following the Liebherr World Team Championships in Bremen in 2006, appearances which counted for world ranking points became an increasing rarity and his last appearance on the global list was in May 2008, listed at forty-three.

Will he return one day?

I don’t know but if there is one phrase to describe Jan-Ove Waldner, it is “Expect the Unexpected!”