by Ian Marshall, Editor

The name is Elias Sjögren.

Elias Ranefur honed his skills at the Ängby Sportclub, ably organised from the very first day the premises opened by Nisse Sandberg. Notably in 2014, in addition to competing in the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Elias Ranefur was the runner up in the Junior Boys’ Singles event at the European Youth Championships staged in the Italian resort of Riva del Garda. He was beaten in the final by Frenchman Alexandre Cassin.

Now, arguably, club colleague, Elias Sjögren has an even greater claim to fame. Born in 2006, ranked in second place in his age group in Sweden; on Sunday 16th September he was present in the Royal Hagaparken Park in Stockholm.

He participated in a 2.1 kilometre race organised on a time trial basis; of the 1,500 participants, in terms of time, he finished in second position.

An achievement in itself but most significantly he met Prince Daniel of Sweden, the husband of Crown Princess Victoria, the heir apparent. Prior to the marriage, Daniel was a personal trainer and owned three gymnasia in central Stockholm. Equipment provided by Stiga, Elias was able to explain the subtleties of serving in table tennis to an enthralled Prince.

Earlier this year Elias Sjögren was a semi-finalist in the Hopes Boys’ Singles event at the 2018 Oman Junior and Cadet Open; his next appearance on the ITTF World Junior Circuit will be the Egypt Junior and Cadet Open. Play starts in, Sharm El Sheikh on Wednesday 24th October.