Table tennis: Calderano seeks two titles in tournament in Slovenia.
In the singles semi-final, the Rio native will compete in the mixed doubles final against Bruna Takahashi.
Brazil Agency - Brazilian Hugo Calderano could end the weekend as a double champion. This Sunday (22), the number 3 in the WTT ranking (acronym, in English, for World Table Tennis) faces Frenchman Alexis Lebrun (12th) at 6:40 am (Brasília time), in the semi-final of the individual bracket of the WTT Star Contender in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The final, if he wins, will be played at 13 pm on the same day.
Furthermore, the 28-year-old from Rio de Janeiro will compete for the mixed doubles title at 8:30 am, alongside Bruna Takahashi. The Brazilian pair will face South Koreans Lim Jonghoo and Shin Yubin, bronze medalists at the Paris Olympics and this year's World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
This Saturday (21), Hugo was in action twice, both times in the singles bracket. In the first match of the day, he beat Kao Cheng-Jui (23rd), from Taipei, by 3 sets to 2, with partial scores of 9/11, 11/8, 6/11, 11/8 and 11/5. Then, in the quarterfinals, the Rio native beat the Croatian Tomislav Pucar (37th) by 3-0 (11/4, 11/6 and 11/8). The Brazilian is the current champion of the tournament.
In the women's singles competition, Bruna Takahashi did not have the same luck. Ranked 17th in the world among women, the São Paulo native fell in the round of 16, defeated by Yuling Zhu (19th), from Macau, by 3 sets to 1, with scores of 7/11, 12/10, 7/11 and 5/11.
The WTT Star Contender in Ljubljana awards 600 points to the champion and has a prize pool of US$300 (R$1,6 million).
