(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
Its the final day of the WTT Star Contender Sao Jose dos Campos, and top seed (and “local”) Hugo Calderano is through to the final four. Calderano is actually from Rio de Janeiro – so this event is about three Southeast by car towards Sao Paulo. But Calderano is in his country, in front of a friendly crowd – and for someone who spends much of the year traveling in Europe and Asia, this week he has all of the comforts of home.
Calderano had a bye in the opening round and then topped Germany’s Andre Bertlesmeier 3-0 in the second round. Calderano dropped a game to Pucar in the Round of 16, and was unscathed in his 3-0 win over Oh Junsung in the Quarters. Today, Calderano faces Yukiya Uda in the early Semifinal. For Uda, he is fresh off of a pair of upset wins as he topped Hiroto Shinozuka 3-0 and then blanked Darko Jorgic on Saturday evening.
In the bottom half of the draw, second seeded Alexis Lebrun will face An Jaehyun in their Semifinal match. Lebrun defeated Pistej, Feng, and Franziska on his path the the Semis – each win with relative ease at 3-0 or 3-1. Jaehyun had a tough win over Ryoichi Yoshiyama 3-2 in the second round, and then outlasted USA’s Kanak Jha in 3-1 win with tight scores. He had a strong showing in his win over Shunsuke Togami Saturday night. Jha had a bye in the first round, but defeated Lam Siu Hang in the second round before falling to Jaeihyun in the Round of 16.
On the Women’s side, USA’s Lily Zhang won her second round match over Debora Vivarelli 3-1 before falling to Miyu Nagasaki 2-3. Nagasaki is having a great tournament, and has also defeated Giulia Takahashi of Brazil, and Satsuki Odo (the second seed) on her way to the Semifinals. Nagasaki will face Hitomi Sato. And the other Semifinal is also all-Japan with Honoka Hashimoto facing top seeded Hina Hayata.
The Finals will be played later today.
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