Swedish Women's Table Tennis Team Advances to EM Quarterfinals with Convincing Victory Over Spain

The Swedish women's table tennis team secured their place in the quarterfinals of the 2025 European Championship after a dominant 3-0 win against Spain in the round of 16. Linda Bergström set the momentum early by defeating Spain's María Xiao in straight sets 12-10, 11-5, and 11-7, beginning the match on a strong note. Following her, Stina Källberg maintained the momentum with a straight-sets victory over Sofia-Xuan Zhang, winning 14-12, 11-8, and 11-9. Källberg remarked, "I kept myself quite cool throughout and was stronger than her in the first set, maintaining my mental edge." The final point came from Filippa Bergand, who triumphed in a tense five-set match against Elvira Rad, winning 3-2 after losing two sets. Despite her victory, Bergand expressed frustration with her performance, stating, "I think I played a quite bad match. I'm really cowardly and she found a good point to press on. I was very angry with myself and the whole situation." Looking ahead, Sweden will face either England or Germany in the quarterfinals, with Bergand recognizing Germany as a formidable opponent but expressed confidence in the team's abilities: "Germany is the toughest team for me, so we need to perform well, but we believe in ourselves." Meanwhile, the Swedish men's team, reigning European champions, is scheduled to face Poland in their own round of 16 match later the same day. Expert John Wall praised the women's team, saying, "It's an incredibly good Swedish team we get to see."