Hugo Calderano, from Rio de Janeiro, gave the Ukrainian underdog no chance and won the WTT Contender de Tênis de Mesa (World Table Tennis) title, played this week in Durban, South Africa. The final, held this Sunday morning (15), put Calderano face to face with Yaroslav Zhmudenko, number 145 in the world. Hugo, 7th place in the ranking world, had no difficulties to win by 4 to 0, partials of 11/4, 11/5, 11/2 and 11/8.
The title capped a high-profile campaign by Calderano in South Africa. In all, he was defeated in just three of the 19 sets who competed. In his career, he now has three WTT Contender circuit titles: in addition to what he won this Sunday, he also won in 2021 in Doha, Qatar, and last year in Tunis, Tunisia, in a Star Contender tournament.
Now, the Brazilian has the 2023 edition of the WTT in Doha as his next commitment, which is set to start today and will run until Saturday (21). Two compatriots from Calderano will also be in contention: Vitor Ishiy, number 66 in the world among men, and Bruna Takahashi, the 23rd best in the ranking worldwide among women.
see the last point of the match that gave the title to Calderano this Sunday.
