Interview with Stellan Bengsston

Nov. 22, 2006
By Larry Hodges
Sweden’s Stellan Bengsston, 1971 World Men’s Singles Champion and one of the all-time great players, recently moved to San Diego.  

Age/Date of Birth:                  54/July 26, 1952
Hometown in Sweden:            Falkenberg, Sweden
Current Hometown:                San Diego, California
Current Club:                          San Diego Table Tennis Association

Best Titles as a Player

·        1971 World Men’s Singles Champion (youngest in history at age 18)

·        1973 World Men’s Doubles Champion (with Kjell Johansson)

·        1973 World Men’s Team Champion

·        7-times European Champion (1-time Singles, 1-time Doubles, 5-times Team)

·        24 medals at World and European Championships

·        65 International Titles in Singles, Doubles and Teams

·        25-times Swedish National Championships (7-times Singles)

Coaching Background

·        3 years ATSV Saarbrucken, Germany

·        2 years Super Donic Berlin, Germany

·        4 years Swedish National Team

·        5 years Danish National Team

·        15 years Falkenberg Table Tennis Club (FBTK)

·        1 year Aspire Sports Academy, Doha, Qatar

·        Many players he coached have won have World/European/Swedish/German Championships. Of this, Stellan wrote, “I have been fortunate to have coached talented and ambitious players.”

How did you get started in table tennis?
I started to play in the basement where we lived in Falkenberg. After entering and winning a school tournament I started at the Falkenberg Club (FBTK). I concentrated only on table tennis from the age of 12 on. Before that I participated in a lot of different sports, Swedish football (soccer), wrestling, handball and table tennis. 

How and where did you train as a junior, and how did you become a top player?
In Sweden I always played for the same Club, Falkenberg. As a kid I played a lot. Every day. The club was always open and there were other players to play with. I was fortunate as a young player to have a very good coach, Allan Dahlgren. At 15 I won my first National Junior Championships. Because of that I was selected for the Swedish Men’s team to play singles in the European Championships in Lyon, France, in 1968. As a result, I was fortunate enough to sit on the bench and study Kjell Johansson and Hans Alser when they played, and that was a good experience. Sweden won the team event there.

The most important part of my development as a player occurred in the fall of 1969, at age 16, when I was able to train for three months in Japan with Mr. Ogimura, who became my mentor. He was 12-times World Champion and a pioneer of modern training in Sweden. That experience changed my life. Bo Persson and I stayed in Japan for 3 1/2 months. We played six hours a day, six days a week. I learned so much, and changed nearly every aspect of my game. I improved the technical, physical and mental parts of my game. A year and a half later I won the World Championships. I have been a professional player/coach since then. 

What was a typical daily and weekly training schedule when you were training full-time? Who did you train with?

Depending on the season and the match schedule I played about 4-5 hours a day. I also did a lot of physical training, running and weights. The National team had a one-week camp every month. In the club I played with Ulf Carlsson, Anders Johansson and a lot of players that are unknown in the U.S. The National team was always very strong with players such as Kjell Johansson, Hans Alser, Mikael Appelgren, Erik Lindh, Ulf Thorsell, Ulf Bengtsson, Jorgen Persson, JO Waldner, etc.

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