BACKNANG – The career of Swedish billiards player Torbjörn Blomdahl is on hold for the next three months. A serious injury to the achilles tendon, sustained during a game of padel, has left Blomdahl out for a long time. He will undergo surgery at the hospital in Backnang next Wednesday. The Achilles tendon needs to be repaired. '“I will definitely have to miss the next three World Cups in Ho Chi Minh, Ankara and Porto,”' Blomdahl already knows for sure. The Swede will definitely miss the World Games in China. ’’As it looks now, I will at most be able to play again in the World Cup in Antwerp (6-12 October) and then the World Championships also in Antwerp.’’ The position in the world rankings is jeopardised by this long absence.
Torbjörn: ’’It was the first time I played a game of padel and so it will also be the last time. I didn't even hit the ball, but tried to move around. Then I made an unfortunate move, completely tearing my Achilles tendon. It didn't even hurt that much.'' The examination revealed the severity of the injury.''
Relying completely on the foot is impossible. ''I walk around at home on crutches and can't really do anything. My two sons come to help me with shopping, taking care of food and other things. The surgery is Wednesday and I already know that it will take at least three to four months before I can walk normally again. So I miss three World Cups, could compete in Antwerp and hopefully, despite my ranking, I can play the World championship as Swedish champion. For the first time I am out for such a long time, I didn’t previously miss more than one World Cup. It looks like I will drop considerably in the world rankings and be well outside the top 14. A pity, because I just felt I was playing well again from December.''
Blomdahl, 6-time world champion and 46 World Cups won, is now 16th on the UMB event ranking and, thanks in part to the Swedish title, 13th on the player ranking. In his last World Cup, in Bogota, Blomdahl was eliminated in the last 16 by Vietnamese Hong Chiem Thai. '“The injury actually came out of nowhere,”' Blomdahl explained. ’’I played table tennis many times, ran half a marathon, in 62 years never had trouble with my Achilles tendons. When it happened, this Monday, my foot immediately hung very limp and I could only lean on it very slightly.'' Blomdahl looks at the rankings with some concern. ''Firstly, I'm out for three months and I have to wait and see how I come out of that period. Furthermore, it's looking at how much I'm behind and I'll have to be very good to get back into the top 14.''
Torbjörn should have played qualifiers in the Ho Chi Minh World Cup, which starts on Monday, on Thursday to make it to the main tournament. The same applies in the Vietnamese city in the final qualifiers for Frédéric Caudron, Haeng Jik Kim, Peter Ceulemans, Duc Minh Tran, Nick Polychronopoulos and Glenn Hofman.
