Who can challenge Magnus in this year's Norwegian Championship?

This article was translated by AI. The original article is written in Norwegian.

Magnus Klippen has dominated Norwegian table hockey for a decade and then some. In this year’s Norwegian Championship he has the chance to claim his tenth national gold medal … and that in a row! Naturally, he is once again the favourite to win. Still, I’d argue the chances have rarely been better that the winning streak comes to an end. Let’s take a closer look.

There are several players who could potentially challenge Magnus on a good day, but one stands out in particular: Daniel Nygård. The Bergen league player from Jæren keeps developing at a time when most established Norwegian table hockey players have plateaued. On “home turf” Daniel dominates massively, winning an average of nine out of ten tournaments in the Bergen league. On top of that, he has delivered strong performances in both national and international tournaments. At the Swedish Masters he reached the round of 16 and knocked out Prokuratovs (ranked 29th in the world), and at Jæren Open he pushed Magnus all the way to a seventh game in the semi-final. Only the finest of margins separated the two players that time.

Screenshot from Scorpion. Daniel was inches away from knocking out Magnus at Jæren Open 2026. Can he get his revenge in this year’s Norwegian Championship?

This was not a one-off. In general, head-to-head statistics against Magnus can make for gruesome reading, but when we check the numbers between these two, the picture is far more positive: Daniel wins roughly 20 percent of his matches against Magnus. For comparison, the equivalent figure for Andreas Fjermestad is 10 percent.

You also have to take into account that Magnus Klippen has never played fewer tournaments in the run-up. While Daniel has played six tournaments this season, Magnus has only three to his name. The question one might ask is whether Magnus is as motivated as before, and not least: Can he peak his form with so little match practice?

We’ll have the answer on Saturday. Magnus is hard to beat, but if anyone can pull it off, Daniel Nygård is the most natural pick.

Watch the Norwegian Championship live on Brent Plast BHK’s YouTube channel from Saturday at 09:30.