Liang Jingkun and Hugo Calderano put on a captivating show in Doha (PICTURE: ITTF)
Doha, Qatar: Brazil’s Hugo Calderano set up a blockbuster ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals gold medal clash with World No.2 Wang Chuqin of China in Doha yesterday.
After overcoming China’s Liang Jingkun 4-3 (15-13, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 7-11, 11-9) in a thrilling semi-final at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall, Calderano secured his maiden appearance in the men’s singles title-clash.
The world No. 4 also became the first Latin American to play in a singles title clash in the event’s 98-year history.
“Liang is a fighter,” Calderano said after the game which took one hour and 15 minutes to finish.
“I played at my best from the beginning to the end. Of course he is strong, he can react [fast], he gets better every year. Somehow, in the last set I was losing, but I knew I would win. I scored 10 consecutive points. When he scored the first point after that, the magic ended. But I managed to hold on,” Calderano said in a TV interview.
Calderano’s opponent Chuqin advanced after taking sweet revenge for his Paris 2024 defeat to Sweden’s Truls Moregardh.
Despite suffering an early setback, the Chinese two-time Olympic gold medallist and eight-time world champion roared to seal a 4-1 (5-11, 11-8, 11-2, 12-10, 12-10) win in 45 minutes.
“I didn’t find my rhythm until the second set,” Chuqin said.
“Moregard did very well and pressured me throughout the game,” Chuqin, who later teamed up with compatriot Sun Yingsha to win his eighth World title, said.
Moregard admitted he could not cope with the level of the Chinese superstar despite winning the opening game.
“I think he played quite passive in the first set. He was not there mentally, and I took advantage of it,” Moregard said.
“He just raised this level to a very high one and I couldn’t keep up with it. So in the end, he was just a better player.”
Chuqin, Yingsha strike mixed gold
China's Wang Chuqin (left) and Sun Yingsha pose with their trophies after winning the mixed doubles title. (Picture from Xinhua)
Meanwhile, Chuqin and Yingsha beat Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura and Satsuki Odo 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8) in the mixed doubles final to own the first piece of silverware at Doha 2025.
“Our rivals posed a great threat with cohesion and tactics even if they are both right-handed,” Yingsha said after lifting her third consecutive mixed doubles World title with Chuqin.
“We trusted each other when the scores were close. We shared the same determination to make it three in a row,” Yingsha, who is now an eight-time world champion, said.
Yingsha reached her second final after defeating Japan’s Mima Ito 4-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4) in yesterday’s semi-final.
“I had perfect execution of strategy for this game,” Yingsha, who will take on Wang Manyu in an all-Chinese final today.
Manyu, seeded second, defeated compatriot and 3rd seed Chen Xhingtong in straight games 11-8, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 in 36 minutes.
Manyu also marched into the women’s doubles final, partnering with Kuai Man.
They brushed aside Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 to book a meeting with Austria’s Sofia Polcanova and Romanian partner Bernadette Szocs. Polcanova and Szocs 3-2 (11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9) as the Doha 2025 set for one more day filled with blockbuster encounters.
