August 9, 2024, Paris. Källberg and Karlsson played together for Sweden, competing for the Olympic gold medal in the final against China.
Just a few weeks later, they faced each other once again—but this time as opponents.
Anton Källberg, who has been with Borussia Düsseldorf since 2016 and even spent several years playing alongside Karlsson in Düsseldorf, went head-to-head with Kristian Karlsson, now back in the Bundesliga, representing newly-promoted Bad Homburg this season.
The first match of the evening was a tough one: Dang Qiu and Csaba Andras faced each other at the ARAG CenterCourt in Düsseldorf. The Olympian Qiu came into the match against his opponent with an 11:8 in the opening set, the second set was then even tighter for the player from the Taunus with 13:15. And so it continued: 11:5 for Qiu, 8:11 for Andras. And then came the game of the evening: at 2:2, Qiu was already trailing 3:7, but then turned on the heat and won 11:8 in the end.
Stumper and Källberg close the bag
Kay Stumper and Anton Källberg also had to fight again in their matches against Yuma Tsuboi and Kristian Karlsson. Nevertheless, first Stumper won his game 3:1, then Källberg prevailed in the Swedish duel and thus secured the winning point for Düsseldorf. With the 3-0 win against Bad Homburg, Borussia improved its position in the table and is now in fifth place in the TTBL with a record of 4-2.
Anton Källberg is satisfied with the game:
We knew it would be a tough, close game. Of course it feels good to win again. We all played well today. Kristian and I both went into the game fully focused and full of excitement. It just happens that we fight in the same team for a week and then face each other as opponents. We both definitely wanted to win the game.
Results of the match
Borussia Düsseldorf – TTC OE Bad Homburg 3:0
Dang Qiu - Csaba Andras 3:2 (11:8, 13:15, 11:5, 8:11, 11:8)
Kay Stumper - Yuma Tsuboi 3:1 (11:8, 8:11, 11:7, 11:7)
Anton Källberg - Kristian Karlsson 3:1 (11:5, 12:14, 11:5, 11:3)