Stellan Bengtsson (born 26 July 1952) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

former

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player. He became the first Swede to win the men's singles at the

World Table Tennis Championships The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men ...

in 1971.Statistics of Stellan Bengtsson
. ITTF Database. He has won three World championships, seven European championships and 65 International championships. He also won seven

English Open The English Open was a professional golf tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the European Tour until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 20 ...

titles.

Notable events

First Swede to win World Championships Bengtsson was born in

Falkenberg Falkenberg is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran (river), Ätra ...

, on the West coast of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in 1952 and began to play table tennis at the age of eight. His small stature (167 cm tall, weighing 60 kg) helped him match the Chinese and he became the first Swede to win the individual World Championships in 1971. In total, Bengtsson has no less than 10 World Championship - and 13 European Championship medals to his credit. Because of his world championship, Bengtsson earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal. Statue Raised in Bengtsson's Honor It was three Rotary clubs, Falkenbergs Rotaryclub, Falkenberg- Herting Rotaryclub and Falkenberg-Kattegatt Rotaryclub, who originally launched the proposal in autumn 2003 and Bengtsson naturally gladly accepted. Stellan Bengtsson's contribution to the world of table tennis was immortalized when a bronze statue of the legendary Swede was raised in his hometown,

, in 2006. Half a million Swedish kronor was raised from various sponsors and a local artist, Martina Falkehag Finn, was chosen amongst a number of qualified candidates to complete the project. The statue is located in the

city hall and will be moved to Falkenberg's new athletic arena when the new indoor stadium is completed in a couple of years. Stellan Bengtsson currently teaches in After School Learning Tree in San Diego, California. He coaches kids and others to play.

References

*MARSHALL, Ian.
Patience
'' ITTF. January 24, 2006 *FRANDSEN, Svend.
Statue raised in Bengtsson's honour
'' ITTF. March 23, 2006 *
The Fastest Wrists in the East
''

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

. April 19, 1971

External links

Stellan's Official Coaching Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengtsson, Stellan Living people 1952 births Swedish male table tennis players People from Falkenberg Sportspeople from Halland County