Hugo Calderano ends his historic season with a bronze at the Finals

Hugo Calderano's historic 2021 season ended this Monday (6). Number four in the ranking of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the Brazilian won the bronze medal at the WTT Finals, a competition that brings together 16 of the best players in the world in Singapore.

After making his debut beating the Chinese Lin Gaoyuan (ranked seventh) by three sets to zero (11/8, 11/9 and 13/11) on Sunday (5), Calderano played two games this Monday. In the first, by the quarterfinals, he defeated Nigerian Quadri Aruna (13th) by three sets to one (11/6, 6/11, 11/8 and 11/4). A place in the semifinals already guaranteed the Brazilian, at least, a bronze medal. In the duel earning a place in the decision, the 25-year-old from Rio de Janeiro faced an old tormentor: the Japanese Tomkazu Harimoto (fifth in the world), who had won four of the three previous times the two faced each other. Again, the Asian got the better of it, this time by four sets to one (6/11, 9/11, 16/14, 5/11 and 3/11).

Despite the fall, the result was the best for Calderano in an edition of Finals. The year, by the way, was one of several historic achievements for the Brazilian, who reached the quarter finals of the Tokyo Olympics (Japan) and the World Championships in Houston (United States), achieving the most positive performance of a table tennis player in the country in both events .

In addition, after winning the Pan American Championship in Lima (Peru), the carioca took fourth place in the ITTF ranking. He equaled the feat of American Sol Schiff, who had been, in 1938, the last athlete from the Americas to appear fourth on the world list.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.