Siri aims for new titles
It is the first Sunday in August and Siri Benjegård is sitting in a train compartment with Joel Isaksson. The Danish countryside flickers by outside the train window. Siri is on her way to the compass summer camp in Saarbrücken, Germany, where some 20 players from around ten countries will gather for five intense days of table tennis.
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Siri Benjegård on her way to a sensational final at the European Youth Championships in Malmö in July 2024. Photo: ETTU
Siri watches Tiktok with Joel, who is also supported by compass. They eat sandwiches and drink hot chocolate. The camp in Saarbrücken marks the start of the final month of the season, which will conclude with Siri’s attempt to defend her 2022 title among players born in 2011 at the Euro Mini Champs in Schiltigheim, France. September will see the start of the next season, with the World Youth Championships at home in Sweden (Helsingborg) from 22-27 November as the main target.
A successful half year
Siri’s last six months have far exceeded expectations. In March, as a twelve-year-old, she won the U20 category at the Swedish Championships. In May, she became the U13 European Champion and in July, on home soil in Malmö, she sensationally reached the final of the U15 European Youth Championships. She saved a lot of match points on her way to the final. In the round of 16 against Austria’s Nina Skerbinz, she saved two before winning the sixth set to level the match at 3:3.
“I was a bit lucky against Nina. When I was leading 9:7 in the decider, I hit two straight net rollers,” said Siri.
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In Siri's repertoire, the backhand is a strong point. Photo: ETTU
Comeback despite big problems
In the quarter-final against top-four ranked German Lisa Wang, a very confident defensive player, Siri struggled for a long time.
“She was so confident, she rarely missed any of her chops, so there were very long duels. When the ball went up a bit, I smashed into her forehand, but everything came back to the table.”
Wang led 3:2 in sets and had five match points at 10:5. It was a situation that few in the hall believed Siri could win.
Nothing to lose
“I thought I had nothing to lose. I felt like I had a good tournament even if I didn’t go through. So I thought it was just a matter of going on”.
Siri also changed her tactics towards the end of the set. She varied the pace of her attacks and began to place her smashes towards the middle of the table and far out to the German’s backhand side. Suddenly Lisa Wang was trapped. And suddenly, Siri had turned the set around, winning seven straight points to take it 12:10. And in the decider, she opened with another four in a row. Eleven in a row! By this time, the German Wang had already been broken – and Siri was able to run away with a clear victory in the decider.
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Final against Hanka Kodetova of the Czech Republic. Photo: ETTU
In the semi-finals, she won in straight sets against the Austrian Mariia Lytvyn. In the final against Hanka Kodetova of the Czech Republic, she came back from 0-2 down to level at 2-2 and take the lead midway through the set before Kodetova fought back to take the set and finally the match.
“I was very happy with my performance, although I felt a bit tired at the end of the final.”
Moved to develop
One of the main reasons for this season’s success is that Siri moved from Kungsbacka to Eslöv in order to train more and be in one of the best training environments in Europe. Eslövs AI is the club that Truls Möregårdh moved to when he was 12 years old.
At Eslöv Siri is coached by Li Fen, the 2012 European singles champion, Malte Möregårdh, Truls Möregårdh’s older brother and coach, and the brothers Peter “Pidde” Andersson and Mattias Andersson. And there are plenty of top players around.
The change of environment has gone well, even if it has been difficult for the family. Mother Lotta and father Joakim commuted from Kungsbacka to Eslöv because little sister Lova still lived there. Although the whole family will be living together in Eslöv for the coming season.
“Living apart has gone better than expected, but now it will be great when we can all live together”.
And what do you do for fun in Eslöv?
“Everything is great with table tennis, and I’m changing school when I start seventh grade, so I don’t really know how it will be. The town is a bit small, I think. There is not much to do here. On the other hand, it’s mostly table tennis and school for me, so it doesn’t matter too much.”
More information about the European Youth Championships can be found at:
Siri aims for new titles
Siri aims for new titles
It is the first Sunday in August and Siri Benjegård is sitting in a train compartment with Joel Isaksson. The Danish countryside flickers by outside the train window. Siri is on her way to the compass summer camp in Saarbrücken, Germany, where some 20 players from around ten countries will gather for five intense days of table tennis.
none
Siri Benjegård on her way to a sensational final at the European Youth Championships in Malmö in July 2024. Photo: ETTU
Siri watches Tiktok with Joel, who is also supported by compass. They eat sandwiches and drink hot chocolate. The camp in Saarbrücken marks the start of the final month of the season, which will conclude with Siri’s attempt to defend her 2022 title among players born in 2011 at the Euro Mini Champs in Schiltigheim, France. September will see the start of the next season, with the World Youth Championships at home in Sweden (Helsingborg) from 22-27 November as the main target.
A successful half year
Siri’s last six months have far exceeded expectations. In March, as a twelve-year-old, she won the U20 category at the Swedish Championships. In May, she became the U13 European Champion and in July, on home soil in Malmö, she sensationally reached the final of the U15 European Youth Championships. She saved a lot of match points on her way to the final. In the round of 16 against Austria’s Nina Skerbinz, she saved two before winning the sixth set to level the match at 3:3.
“I was a bit lucky against Nina. When I was leading 9:7 in the decider, I hit two straight net rollers,” said Siri.
none
In Siri's repertoire, the backhand is a strong point. Photo: ETTU
Comeback despite big problems
In the quarter-final against top-four ranked German Lisa Wang, a very confident defensive player, Siri struggled for a long time.
“She was so confident, she rarely missed any of her chops, so there were very long duels. When the ball went up a bit, I smashed into her forehand, but everything came back to the table.”
Wang led 3:2 in sets and had five match points at 10:5. It was a situation that few in the hall believed Siri could win.
Nothing to lose
“I thought I had nothing to lose. I felt like I had a good tournament even if I didn’t go through. So I thought it was just a matter of going on”.
Siri also changed her tactics towards the end of the set. She varied the pace of her attacks and began to place her smashes towards the middle of the table and far out to the German’s backhand side. Suddenly Lisa Wang was trapped. And suddenly, Siri had turned the set around, winning seven straight points to take it 12:10. And in the decider, she opened with another four in a row. Eleven in a row! By this time, the German Wang had already been broken – and Siri was able to run away with a clear victory in the decider.
none
Final against Hanka Kodetova of the Czech Republic. Photo: ETTU
In the semi-finals, she won in straight sets against the Austrian Mariia Lytvyn. In the final against Hanka Kodetova of the Czech Republic, she came back from 0-2 down to level at 2-2 and take the lead midway through the set before Kodetova fought back to take the set and finally the match.
“I was very happy with my performance, although I felt a bit tired at the end of the final.”
Moved to develop
One of the main reasons for this season’s success is that Siri moved from Kungsbacka to Eslöv in order to train more and be in one of the best training environments in Europe. Eslövs AI is the club that Truls Möregårdh moved to when he was 12 years old.
At Eslöv Siri is coached by Li Fen, the 2012 European singles champion, Malte Möregårdh, Truls Möregårdh’s older brother and coach, and the brothers Peter “Pidde” Andersson and Mattias Andersson. And there are plenty of top players around.
The change of environment has gone well, even if it has been difficult for the family. Mother Lotta and father Joakim commuted from Kungsbacka to Eslöv because little sister Lova still lived there. Although the whole family will be living together in Eslöv for the coming season.
“Living apart has gone better than expected, but now it will be great when we can all live together”.
And what do you do for fun in Eslöv?
“Everything is great with table tennis, and I’m changing school when I start seventh grade, so I don’t really know how it will be. The town is a bit small, I think. There is not much to do here. On the other hand, it’s mostly table tennis and school for me, so it doesn’t matter too much.”
More information about the European Youth Championships can be found at:
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