Hugo Calderano suffers first-round upset elimination at 2023 World Championships
Brazil's men's singles sixth seed is the latest big name to crash out at the round of 128 in Durban, South Africa.
Table Tennis
The big names keep on falling at the 2023 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals.
World number six Hugo Calderano of Brazil became the biggest casualty yet of the event in Durban, South Africa, as the round of 128 came to an end on Sunday (21 May) with the Brazilian falling to world number 74 Brian Afanador of Puerto Rico.
The sixth seed had never lost in four meetings to Afanador, and started brightly, taking the opening game 11–3. Based on the opening game, it looked like a one-sided clash was on the cards.
But Afanador would not let Calderano have his own way, levelling the match with the second game. While the Brazilian would regain the lead in the third, Puerto Rico's Afanador took the last three games to complete a stunning 4–2 (3–11, 11–7, 8–11, 11–7, 11–6, 11–4) victory.
Calderano is not the only big name to have seen his World Championships challenge end at the very first hurdle.
The 2019 silver medallist Mattias Falck was defeated 4–1 on the opening day by world number 135 Lam Siu Hang of Hong Kong China, while Portugal's João Geraldo knocked off Liam Pitchford – 23 places higher than him in the world rankings – with a 4–3 win.
Both singles competitions are now into the round of 64, where more potential upsets await.