Calderano makes South-American history, three-peat for Chuqin & Yingsha at TT Worlds
Doha
Brazilian Hugo Calderano created history at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships - Doha 2025 yesterday as he became the first South American to reach global final.
At the Lusail Sports Complex, the 28-year-old beat China's fifth seed Liang Jingkun 4-3 (15-13, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 7-11, 11-9), for a shot at becoming Brazil's first-ever world champion. Calderano recently made history as his country's first paddler to win the men's singles gold at the ITTF World Cup in Macao.
Calderano battled fiercely against Jingkun. He found himself on the back foot early, trailing 6-9 in the opening game but he responded with deceptive angles. The set became a tense affair, with Calderano edging ahead and Jingkun saving five game points, but Calderano finally clinched it to take a 1-0 lead..
The second game was equally intense, but Calderano remained sharp, using spin, angles, and changes in pace to overpower his opponent, sealing it 11-7. In the third, Jingkun regrouped to take the set keeping himself in the match.
Calderano came out firing in the fourth, surging to a 5-1 lead with a masterful blend of slow spin and speed as Brazilian reclaimed control and push ahead 3-1 in the match. Jingkun responded emphatically in the fifth and sixth set, leveling the match at 3-3 and setting up a dramatic decider.
The final game saw Calderano struggle with unforced errors early, falling behind 0-3. But he quickly recovered, winning five consecutive points to turn the tide. The change of ends favoured Calderano, as he surged to a 10-3 lead and held firm to claim victory in a marathon battle.
Calderano will face another Chinese Wang Chuqin, whom he defeated in the World Cup semi-finals last month in Macau. Chuqin beat Sweden's No. 7 seed Truls Moregardh 4-2 (5-11, 11-8, 11-2, 12-10, 12-10) in the semi-final yesterday.
Wang exacted revenge on Moregard after his shock defeat to the Swede in the round of 32 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Moregard made it through to the final, where he lost to world champion Fan Zhendong.
Wang will fancy his chances of finally getting his hands on the world singles title as he looks to upgrade the silver from two years ago. The two-time Olympic champion in doubles events can capture the full set of gold medals at the world championships. The 25-year-old won the men's and mixed doubles in Durban 2023.
Earlier, Wang and Sun Yingsha claimed their third straight mixed doubles crown beating Japan's Maharu Yoshimura and Satsuki Odo 3-1 (7-11,8-11, 11-7, 8-11) in the final.
In the women's competition, defending champion Sun made short work of Japan's Ito Mima in their semi-final. Sun defeated the eighth seed in straight sets, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4, to secure her third straight singles final at the global showpiece. In other semis, China's Wang Manyu beat Chen Xingtong to storm into the final.
In the women's doubles, Wang Manyu and Kuai Man reached the final beating Japan's No. 4 seed, Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 to book their spot in the final. This marks Wang Manyu's fourth appearance in the women's doubles event at the World Championships, where she has already secured two gold medals.
In the men's doubles, Kao Cheng-Jui and Lin Yun-Ju made it to the final defeating the top-ranked French duo of Felix and Alexis Lebrun. They will now face the Japanese World No. 2 pairing of Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami, who made it to the final courtesy of a walkover from the second French pairing of Florian Bourrassaud and Esteban Dorr.
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