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This Friday, the Brazilian Hugo Calderano beat Slovenian Darko Jorgic, number 23 in the world, by 4 sets to 1, partial 8/11, 11/6, 11/3, 13/11 and 11/2, and qualified for the quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis, which is being played in Houston, USA. Now, Caldenaro faces Chinese Liang Jingkun, currently 9th in the world. He eliminated Englishman Liam Pitchford, number 15 in the ranking. The quarterfinal duel will take place this Saturday. The schedule is yet to be announced.
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Hugo Calderano has been making history at the Table Tennis World Cup — Photo: WTTGlobal/Divulgação
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Last Tuesday, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) updated the ranking of the sport and confirmed Hugo Calderano in an unprecedented position for Brazil. After winning the double in the Pan-American Championship, the 25-year-old Brazilian rose to fourth position in the world.
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He became the first table tennis player in the Americas to figure in the top 4 in the world in 83 years – a position only reached by the American Sol Schiff in 1938, but before the creation of the official ranking. With 8964 points, he is only behind three Chinese: Fan Zhendong (12,494 points), Ma Long (12,212) and Xu Xin (10,356).
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Bye in the opening round for being seeded, Hugo Calderano debuted at the Worlds winning the Portuguese João Monteiro (78th) by 4-1 (partial 8/11, 11/4, 11/5, 11/2 and 11/6). In the next round, he beat Belgian Cedric Nuytinck (75th in the world) by 4-3 (parties of 6/11, 11/8, 6/11, 8/11, 11/7, 7/11 and 11/5).
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The 25-year-old from Rio de Janeiro is the only Brazilian still competing in Houston. Gustavo Tsuboi (38th), Vitor Ishiy (55th), Thiago Monteiro (92nd) and Bruna Takahashi (38th among girls) have already been eliminated in the competition. Brazil also lost all of its doubles matches, staying out of contention.
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