After 2 wins, Calderano faces German this Thursday at China Smash

This Thursday (8), Brazilian Hugo Calderano is looking for his third consecutive victory at China Smash 2026, in Beijing, one of the main table tennis tournaments on the world circuit. In addition to bringing together the highest ranked athletes on the planet, the competition distributes maximum points (2,000 points) to the winners. Starting at 8:45 am (Brasília time), the Rio de Janeiro native will face the German Patric Franziska (22nd in the ranking) in the round of 16.

Number 6 in the world, Calderano advanced last Tuesday (6), by beating South Korean Na Jaehyun (37th) by 3 sets to 0 (11/5, 11/9 and 12/10). German Franziska qualified for the round of 16 by eliminating Chinese qualifier Yan Licen by a score of 3 sets to 1 (4/11, 11/7, 11/4 and 11/5).

In his debut last Sunday (4), Calderano defeated German Dimitri Ovtcharov (19th) by 3 sets to 0. The Brazilian is committed to surpassing the campaign he had in Beijing last year, when he stopped in the quarterfinals.

Calderashi duo falls on debut

Third in the world rankings, Calderano's partner with São Paulo's Bruna Takahashi fought a five-set battle, but ended up eliminated in the first round of the mixed doubles at Smash China. After almost 40 minutes of fighting, the Brazilians were beaten 3 sets to 2 by the Romanians Eduard Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs, with scores of 11/9, 8/11, 11/9, 3/11 and 11/8.

This season, the Calderashi duo were champions of the Singapore Smash, took bronze at the US Smash, in Los Angeles (United States) and were runners-up at the WTT Contender São José dos Campos, in São Paulo.