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Europe Smash Sweden 2025 Crowned “Sports Event of the Year”

17/01/2026 by Jakob Wikenstaal

Europe Smash Sweden 2025 — the historic table tennis Grand Smash held in Malmö — has been officially recognised as the Sports Event of the Year at Sport & Affärers Year-End Celebration in Stockholm.

The award highlights one of the most exciting sports moments in Sweden during 2025, celebrating the tournament’s success in bringing global elite competition and unforgettable experiences to fans and local communities alike.

A Historic Week of Table Tennis in Malmö

From August 14 to 24, 2025, Europe Smash — the first WTT Grand Smash ever hosted in Europe — transformed Malmö Arena and Baltiska Hallen into the centre of world table tennis. Top-ranked players from across the globe battled over eleven intense days, showcasing elite athleticism and high-quality competition.

The event generated an electric atmosphere with packed stands throughout the tournament. Local star Truls Möregårdh captured international headlines with an incredible performance that energised Swedish fans and brought significant attention to the sport.

Recognition on a National Stage

At the Sport & Affärers awards ceremony on January 15, Europe Smash Sweden 2025 was selected from among Sweden’s top sporting events of the year. Vice Chairman Kristina Alvendal accepted the award on behalf of Svenska Bordtennisförbundet, describing it as “a wonderful acknowledgment of this summer’s success in Malmö.”

Impact and Legacy

Europe Smash not only delivered world-class sport for thousands of spectators, but it also demonstrated Sweden’s capability to host major international sporting events. As the first Grand Smash held on European soil — joining Singapore, Beijing, and Las Vegas — the tournament affirmed Sweden’s place on the global table tennis stage and contributed to growing interest and participation in the sport nationwide.

Want to get help with your sporting event? Sportidealisten can be your solution

At Sportidealisten, our focus was to make sure all the moving parts worked seamlessly:

Venue setup – Ensured signage was placed strategically and all areas functioned as planned.
Transport coordination – Supported smooth transfers for players and VIP guests.
Facility upkeep – Cleaned and prepared ping-pong tables between matches.
Volunteer management – Trained and guided volunteers to perform confidently.
Real-time problem-solving – Solved logistical challenges as they happened.
Event teardown – Dismantled and cleared everything after the final match.

Learn more about our work with the Europe Smash:

Behind the Smashes: Sportidealisten’s Role at Europe Smash Sweden 2025

Europe Smash 2025 Generates Strong Tourism Impact in Malmö — Proud to Support a Successful Event

Get in touch if your club, federation, or organization wants world-class support for your sports events.

Behind the Smashes: Sportidealisten’s Role at Europe Smash Sweden 2025

27/08/2025 by Jakob Wikenstaal

When Europe hosted its very first WTT Grand Smash tournament, Sportidealisten was there – not in the spotlight, but making sure everything behind the scenes ran smoothly. From signage and logistics to volunteer coordination and final teardown, our team played a key role in ensuring Europe Smash Sweden 2025 became a world-class success. Here’s our story, what we contributed, and the lessons that can inspire future sports events.

What Europe Smash Means for European Table Tennis

Held at Malmö Arena from August 14 to 24, 2025, Europe Smash Sweden made history as the first-ever WTT Grand Smash event in Europe. The tournament joined Singapore, China, and the U.S. in the elite Grand Smash series – elevating table tennis on a truly global stage.

The event was also historic for Sweden: superstar Truls Möregårdh became the first European player to win a WTT Grand Smash singles title, defeating world number one Lin Shidong in front of a roaring home crowd. Beyond the results, the event celebrated Europe’s rich table tennis heritage and signaled a new era for the sport on the continent.

What We Did – Making It All Work, Behind the Scenes

At Sportidealisten, our focus was to make sure all the moving parts worked seamlessly:

Venue setup – Ensured signage was placed strategically and all areas functioned as planned.
Transport coordination – Supported smooth transfers for players and VIP guests.
Facility upkeep – Cleaned and prepared ping-pong tables between matches.
Volunteer management – Trained and guided volunteers to perform confidently.
Real-time problem-solving – Solved logistical challenges as they happened.
Event teardown – Dismantled and cleared everything after the final match.

The Impact – What We Contributed

Uninterrupted competition flow – Matches started on time and ran smoothly.
Elevated audience experience – Every detail contributed to a professional and enjoyable event for fans, media, and athletes.
Empowered volunteers – With clear instructions and support, volunteers became a vital force behind the event.
Operational resilience – Challenges were solved quickly, avoiding stress and delays.

Key Learnings from a Grand Smash Event

Attention to detail matters – Small operational elements define big success.
Volunteers are invaluable – Training, communication, and gratitude empower them to shine.
Flexibility builds success – Being adaptive keeps the event running under pressure.
Collaboration drives outcomes – Working with Svenska Bordtennisförbundet, World Table Tennis, and Europe Smash was key to success.

Watch Behind the Scenes

To really feel the atmosphere, check out our behind-the-scenes video on Instagram. From setup to takedown, you’ll see the dedication and teamwork that powered the event.

In summary: Being part of Europe Smash Sweden 2025 was a highlight for Sportidealisten. It showed how professionalism, operational excellence, and teamwork can elevate major sports events. We’re proud of the role we played – and we’re ready to bring this same expertise to your next event.

👉 Get in touch if your club, federation, or organization wants world-class support for your sports events.

Unlocking the Future of Sports Careers: Try Out COMPATH’s Digital Competence Hub

30/05/2025 by Jakob Wikenstaal

We’re excited to share a major milestone in our journey to empower the next generation of sports professionals. Just last week, we concluded the final meeting of our Erasmus+ Sports Project, COMPATH, in Oslo, Norway 🇳🇴 — and with it, we proudly launched our cutting-edge platform: the Digital Competence Hub on Sport Innovation.

Introducing the COMPATH Portal: A Game-Changer for Young Athletes

After three years of collaboration, research, and development, the COMPATH portal is finally here. This unique platform is designed to equip young student-athletes (ages 16–25) with the technological and professional skills needed to thrive in the modern sports industry.

From artificial intelligence to wearable technology, drone systems to the use of big data in sports, the portal features 12 specialized modules tailored to today’s most in-demand skills.

And now, you have the chance to be one of the first to experience it.

Are You Ready to Become a Future Sports Leader?

If you’re passionate about sports and want to explore the opportunities that technology and innovation bring, this is your moment.

🚀 Whether you’re dreaming of a career in sports tech, management, data analysis, or entrepreneurship, the COMPATH platform is your launchpad.

💪 Apply now to gain early access and get a head start on building the skills that sports organizations across Europe are looking for.

Apply for early access here

About the COMPATH Project

COMPATH (Promoting Employability of Young Student-Athletes through ‘‘Competence Hub’’ on Sport Innovation) is an Erasmus+ co-funded initiative that promotes the educational, professional, and personal development of young athletes. It aims to contribute to quality employment, digital literacy, and innovation in the sports industry.

Aligned with the EU’s strategic priorities on sport and employability, COMPATH supports smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth by delivering reusable, transferable, and scalable digital resources and tools.

Our Core Objectives

Develop cutting-edge educational resources focused on sport-specific technology, 21st-century skills, entrepreneurship, and digital literacy.
Launch a digital Competence Hub to increase the employability of young sportspeople through innovative, gamified learning experiences.
Build a European community of sport innovation, fostering collaboration, creativity, and career development across borders.

Project Deliverables

✔️ Training Modules: Practical, sports-oriented technology and 21st-century competence training designed for young student-athletes.

✔️ Facilitator Toolkits: Resource-rich guides to support coaches, educators, and mentors.

✔️ Digital Innovation Hub: A gamification-based platform offering engaging, interactive content to build real-world skills for tomorrow’s sports leaders.

Be Among the First to Join the Future of Sports Innovation

Don’t miss this opportunity to develop your digital edge in sports. Whether you’re an aspiring coach, data analyst, sport tech entrepreneur, or elite athlete, the COMPATH platform is built for you.

🔗 Apply now for early access and become a pioneer in sports innovation!

COMPATH meeting update – empowering young sports professionals

09/01/202528/02/2024 by Jakob Wikenstaal

Young professionals in sports industry collaborating during COMPATH project meeting

I February we hade a new meeting within the EU project “COMPATH” where we are empowering young sports professionals. This time the meeting was held by NYSA Sweden and in Stockholm, Sweden.

We are happy that we now have had a new meeting with the COMPATH team. At this meeting we followed up the latest discussions on how our COMPATH project supports the sports industry by empowering young sports professionals.

The meeting was held in Stockholm, Sweden and hosted by NYSA Sweden at GIH (the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences. Except for updating each partner of the latest progress we talked about what the modules of the COMPATH project will create new opportunities for young professionals in the sports industry at the meeting.

The COMPATH project supports the professional and personal development of young people through a Competence Hub on Sport Innovation.

Special thanks to NYSA for their great hospitality and all our partners that we are happy to work with.

If you want to follow our partners on LinkedIn, then find them below.

OPRI International Project Office Loughborough University Sportsko učilište PESG – projekti MOBAD Sportidealisten Regional Development Agency SIMORA AIforlives NYSA Sweden UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia

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Dual career within sport management

19/01/202603/06/2023 by Jakob Wikenstaal

Jakob Wikenstaal at COMPATH project meeting in Murcia, Spain with sport management professionals.

This week we had our second meeting with the EU project COMPATH that was held in Murcia, hosted by UCAM Spanish Sports University. the project is about promoting employability of young student-athletes through a “competence hub on sport innovation”.

At the end of May 2023 we took part of the second meeting of the EU project COMPATH.

Together with all the project partners we followed up from the first meeting that was held in Oslo, Norway 2022 and this years’ focus was planning and brainstorming for the next steps in the COMPATH project which supports the educational, professional, and personal development of young athletes-students (18-25 years) through a ‘‘Competence Hub on Sport Innovation’’, thereby contributing to promote quality and new jobs and to driving innovation. Hopefully more people can use their passion for sports and get into the sport management industry later on.

The objective of COMPATH

The specific aims of the project are:

to develop educational resources in order to touch both the careers and perspectives of young student-athletes by showing sports-oriented technology and 21st century skills, business world, entrepreneurship and different thinking and literacy methods; and
to launch the ”Digital Competence Hub on Sport Innovation” where young student/athletes will acquire the skills and competencies to increase their employability in the sports industry.

Dual career

One of the project partners is European Athlete Student (EAS) and they support European athletes in combining high performance sport and education. A “dual career” means you as an athlete can both focus on your athlete career as well as a career outside of the athletic one. EAS helps in this way by helping athletes to get an education or vocational training, so that they have a safe platform to start from when their sports career is over.

The International Olympic Committee has also build up great resources for a dual career. Some of the great benefits for a dual career are:

Health and psychological benefits such as reduced stress and increased well-being. Education allows you to give yourself a break and have a different focus or a positive distraction.
The opportunity to enhance current skills, develop your life skills and become more well-rounded.
The chance to expand your social networks beyond sports.
Enhanced employment prospects with transferable skills for the future.

COMPATH in Murcia

We are happy to be currently participating in the COMPATH project. The second meeting was held in Murcia, Spain, hosted by UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia! Over two days, we were engaging in dynamic discussions focused on driving innovation in education and sport.

The meeting covered a range of crucial topics, including overall project management, the development of educational resources, gamification-based digital sport innovation, pilot schemes, dissemination strategies, and more! We are really looking forward to see student-athletes to become the next sport management professionals. More about what the meeting looked like, please see the galley below.

Stay tuned as we continue to forge ahead with the COMPATH project, aiming to transform education and sport through collective innovation!