The spectacular career of Hugo Calderano, world table tennis champion.

From 2014 to 2025:

Winning the bronze medal at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games had truly confirmed Hugo's potential, although any doubts would have been dispelled by then, as he had reached the top 100 of the men's world rankings six months earlier.

2018:

In November 2018, Hugo reached the world top 10, a feat never before achieved by another player from Latin America.

2020:

Hugo qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as number 4, being the highest non-Asian in the world rankings. He later became the first Brazilian and Latin American to reach the quarterfinals of table tennis at the Olympic Games.

2025:

With an extraordinary performance, in Macau, China, on April 20, 2025, Brazilian Hugo Calderano was crowned table tennis world champion, after beating Chinese Lin Shidong 4-1 with scores of 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 and 11-5, an extraordinary feat, as, for the first time, a Brazilian and South American athlete reaches first place in a planetary table tennis event, and for the first time since 2003 that a non-Chinese athlete is crowned world champion.

After a somewhat hesitant first set, typical of the nerves of a world final, Calderano asserted himself, and with concentration and precise play, he improved his level and simply - in the following four sets - beat his rival by a wide margin.

Sources:

COMPASS. Hugo Calderano: Constantly on the lookout . Available at: < https://www.compass-tt.com/hugo-calderano-constantly-on-the-lookout/ > Accessed on: April 23, 2025.

MAUROGAGLIETTI. Photo illustration by Hugo Calderano, World Champion. Available at: < https://www.instagram.com/p/DIrmh4QyqVH/ > Accessed on: May 5, 2025.

PANAMSPORTS. Historic: Hugo Calderano crowned world Champion . Available at: < https://www.panamsports.org/en/news-sport/historic-hugo-calderano-crowned-world-champion/ > Accessed on 25.Apr.2025.

TTLOVE-Table Tennis Channel. ITTF World Cup Macau 2025, Men's Final, Calderano x Lin Shidong . Available at: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWxYfUO5J_k > Accessed on: 05.May.2025.