Stellan Bengtsson

Stellan Bengtsson
Stellan Bengtsson (1972)
Full name	BENGTSSON Stellan
Nationality	Sweden
Born	(1952-07-26) 26 July 1952 (age 64) Slöinge, Sweden
Playing style	Shake hands grip
Highest ranking	1, 1971

Stellan Bengtsson (born 26 July 1952) is a former Swedish table tennis player. He won, as first Swede, the singles at the World Table Tennis Championships 1971. He has won 3 World championships, 7 European championships and 65 International championships.

First Swede to win World Championships

Bengtsson was born in Falkenberg, on the West coast of Sweden in 1952 and began to play table tennis at the age of eight. His small stature (167 cm tall, weighing 60 kg) helped him match the Chinese and he became the first Swede to win the individual World Championships in 1971. In total, Bengtsson has no less than 10 World Championship - and 13 European Championship medals to his credit. Because of his world championship, Bengtsson earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.

Statue Raised in Stellan's Honor

It was three Rotary clubs, Falkenbergs Rotaryclub, Falkenberg-Herting Rotaryclub and Falkenberg-Kattegatt Rotaryclub, who originally launched the proposal in autumn 2003 and Bengtsson naturally gladly accepted. Stellan Bengtsson’s contribution to the world of table tennis was immortalized when a bronze statue of the legendary Swede was raised in his hometown, Falkenberg, in 2006. Half a million Swedish kronor was raised from various sponsors and a local artist, Martina Falkehag Finn, was chosen amongst a number of qualified candidates to complete the project. The statue is located in the Falkenberg city hall and will be moved to Falkenberg’s new athletic arena when the new indoor stadium is completed in a couple of years.