In a sentence

He was not the strongest of his era, but quite possibly the one people were most willing to watch from start to finish.

Playing style

  • Seamless forehand-backhand loop transition; long-distance rallies of real beauty
  • Delicate touch, producing a stream of high-difficulty unorthodox shots
  • Unhurried rhythm, gifted at manufacturing counters from passive positions

Career and key moments

At the 2004 Athens Olympics he won men’s singles bronze, one of Danish table tennis’ finest Olympic moments. In 2005 he took the European Championship title, and at that year’s World Championship he traded the endlessly replayed “rally of the century” with Ryu Seung-min — defense turning to attack at its most imaginative. His game blended Nordic ease with the weight of European looping, one of the most recognizable faces of the 2000s.

Legacy

He proved table tennis can be beautiful, not just victorious. In an efficiency-obsessed present, the romance of playing one more ball is exactly what people miss.

Remember in one line: Turning a match into a show is no easier than turning it into a win.