by Simon Daish

Starting his four-year term in January 2017 Peter Sartz will be given the task of building a strong Swedish squad ahead of the 2018 World Team Championships which will be hosted in the Swedish city of Halmstad, and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The Technical Director of the Swedish Table Tennis Association Michael Peterson was delighted with the news of the appointment and hopes to see the Swedish Women’s team enjoy a successful stint under the guidance of coach Sartz:

“We welcome Peter Sartz as coach of the Swedish Women’s team. With his ambitions, experience and together with the team he will build, there is a very good chance of success. It is already clear that Li Fen will help the national team in the technical side of the game, while she continues as a player” – Michael Peterson.

Peter Sartz was assistant coach to Soren Ahlen for Sweden at the 1995 World Championships in Tianjin China, but then moved to Denmark spending 18 years in the country first as coach and then Sporting Director. The Swede coached Denmark’s Michael Maze and Finn Tugwell to the Men’s Doubles bronze medal at Athens 2004, and a year later Sartz helped Maze achieve a Men’s Singles bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships held in Shanghai, China.

Back coaching for Sweden Peter Sartz is looking to put the Women’s team in a strong position to take on the top nations over the next few years and will attempt to bridge the gap between youth and senior levels, “I’m aiming to work with a team to secure the thread from the youth national team to the senior national team” said Sartz. “One objective will be to improve the quality of the Swedish Women’s team through increased quality and quantity of training.”

“My goal is that in the future we should raise ourselves individually and as a team, and be able to be fight for medals at the championships. In 2020 we’ll be hitting that law also against the Asian nations” – Peter Sartz.