Hugo Calderano confirms favoritism and takes the tri at Pan – 11/01/2023 – Sport

Brazilian Hugo Calderano, 27, number 4 in the world rankings in table tennis, confirmed his favoritism and won gold at the Pan American Games being held this week in Santiago, Chile. In the final, Calderano easily beat the Cuban Andy Pereira (150th in the ranking) by 4 sets to 0 (11/3, 11/8, 11/5 and 11/4).

With the victory, Calderano became the first three-time table tennis player at the Pan American Games. He also won in 2015, in Toronto, and in 2019, in Lima. Hugo Hoyama (1991 and 1995) and the naturalized Chinese Dominican Lin Ju (2003 and 2007) shared with him the position of biggest winner of the competition.

“[O tricampeonato] It reinforces how hard I work to achieve this type of title, which is very important not only for me, but for the whole of Brazil”, said the Brazilian after the victory in the Chilean capital. “There’s still a lot of ground ahead. I feel like I continue to evolve every year, physically, mentally, technically”, added the table tennis player from Rio de Janeiro.

The country’s leading name in the sport, Calderano achieved the country’s best result in the sport at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. He advanced to the quarterfinals in Japan, beating Hugo Hoyama, whose best result was the round of 16.

Earlier, in the women’s competition, Brazilian Bruna Takahashi, 23, fought hard, but ended up defeated by Puerto Rican Adriana Díaz by 4 sets to 3 (9/11, 14/12, 11/3, 8/11, 8/11 , 11/9 and 11/7).

In the doubles competition, Brazil won three silvers in table tennis. In the men’s category, Calderano and Vitor Ishiy lost on Tuesday (31) to the Cuban duo formed by Andy Pereira and Jorge Campos by 4-2 (5/11, 11/8, 11/8, 12/10, 8/ 11, 11/7). In the women’s category, sisters Bruna and Giulia Takahashi lost the final to Amy Wang and Rachel Sung, from the United States, 4-3 (11/7, 5/11, 7/11, 12/10, 11/8, 4/ 11 and 11/6).

In the mixed doubles, Ishiy and Bruna also advanced to the final, but lost on Monday (30) to Cubans Jorge Campos and Daniela Fonseca 4-0 (11/8, 11/6, 11/7 and 11/6 ). Despite the defeat, having reached the final, Brazil guaranteed a place at the Paris Games in 2024 in the mixed doubles competition.