Amid the explosion of social media, the use of the word “history” has been trivialized in favor of engagement. But the triumph of Hugo Calderano and Bruna Takahashi in one of table tennis’s grand slams is gigantic to say the least, and resorting to superlatives does not seem exaggerated to describe this achievement by the Brazilian duo.
The first non-Asian duo to win a tournament of this type, the couple is aiming for a medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, in two years, as long as they maintain the pace of their rapid rise in the category. This Friday (27), Calderano and Bruno defeated the number 1 duo in the world rankings, the South Koreans Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yubin, at the WTT Smash in Singapore, an event that is among the most important on the world circuit.
The victory was the duo’s second achievement. Before, in Buenos Aires, last year, they won a smaller WTT tournament, which already indicated an improvement in the pair’s performance, even more so after reaching a final in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Calderano and Bruna have been performing together since October 2024.
In this Friday’s victory, the Brazilians were much superior and, even in the third set, when the Koreans attempted a reaction, they turned the match around to close the match 3-0. On the way to the decision, they also defeated a strong pair, Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem, from Hong Kong, current number 4 in the world.
By coincidence, the two pairs defeated by the Brazilians in the final stages in Singapore competed for the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, with the South Korean duo winning, which gives even more value to this Friday’s achievement. Winning a medal at the Games is another story, much more complicated, with a lot of pressure and the participation of the best Chinese pair at the time, which hasn’t happened now.
It is curious that the two greatest Brazilian players in the history of the sport, especially Calderano, who is by far the greatest athlete in this sport in the Southern Hemisphere, achieved their best result in a grand slam in mixed doubles, not in individual competitions and after such a short time playing together.
Calderano is currently training in Germany — he recently announced that he will compete in the 2027 season of the German league for Saarbrücken, current home of the Chinese Fan Zhendong, gold in Paris —, and Bruna, in France, which in practice makes it difficult to have a more frequent training routine for doubles disputes. Thus, the triumph in Asia could influence the formation of a plan to compete for a medal in Los Angeles in doubles.
Until then, they need to focus on individual competitions, especially Calderano, who after reaching the semifinals in 2024 is capable of going far in another edition of the Games and making history again.
