Hugo Calderano, 25, from Rio de Janeiro, became this Sunday (30) the number 3 in the world in table tennis and, in addition, became the greatest player in the Americas, surpassing the North American Sol Schiff, who held the position since 1938. 
In the February world ranking, exceptionally anticipated for today (30) by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the Brazilian appears in third place (4913 points), previously occupied by Tomokazu Harimoto (now with 4,608). Calderano is second only to Chinese – Fan Zhendong (8,598) and Ma Long (5,404) – considered the best in the world for generations.
WORLD NUMBER 3! ?@hugocalderano reaches the Top 3 of the world ranking for the first time!
1️⃣ Fan Zhendong ?? – 8598
2️⃣ Ma Long ??- 5404
3️⃣ Hugo Calderano ?? – 4913Nobody can hold Hugo! ??? pic.twitter.com/iZTw8J50yY
— Team Brazil (@timebrasil) January 30, 2022
Even without recent achievements, due to the end of the year recess, the table tennis player from Rio rose in position due to regularity and good performance last year, according to an analysis by the Brazilian Table Tennis Confederation (CBTM). At the Tokyo Olympics (Japan), Calderano qualified for the quarterfinals and in September won his biggest title in his career: the WTT Star Contender Doha, important stage of the world circuit.
Other Brazilians also moved up in the ITTF ranking update. In the female category, Bruna Takahashi climbed seven positions and is now in 32nd place, an unprecedented position for a table tennis player in the country. Vitor Ishiy, on the other hand, climbed three places and took the 53rd place in the men’s, 12 positions behind Gustavo Tsuboi, in the 41st place.
