(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
Hugo Calderano has done it again – winning the WTT Star Contender Series event in Ljubijana, Slovenia. Calderano met still competition early, defeating France’s Flavien Cotton 3-1 and fighting back from behind twice against Taipei’s Kao Cheng-Jui in the Round of 16. However, he was firing on all cylinders by the time he faced Alexis Lebrun in the Semifinals. It was Lebrun who struck first, coming from behind twice to win a pair of 13-11 victories to take a commanding lead. But Calderano dominated the final three games for the win.
In the Final, it was Calderano narrowing winning the first two games – and that was the difference as he and Felix Lebrun split the final four games. Calderano wins 4-2 to win the tournament. Both Lebrun brothers logged solid events – with Felix defeating Darko Jorgic 3-1 to reach the Final and Alexis taking out Zhou Qihao to reach the Semifinal. The brothers, however, would likely find their Doubles results disappointing – entering as the top seed, but losing in the Final 0-3 to An Jaehyun and Lim Jonghoon. Lim Jonghoon also won in Mixed Doubles – pairing with Shin Yubin to defeat Hugo Calderano and Bruna Takahashi 3-0.
Women’s Singles was an all-Japan Final with Miyu Nagasaki topping Miyuu Kihara 4-1. Both Finalists had upset wins in the Semifinals – Kihara over Zhu Yuling 3-1, and Nagasaki over Chen Yi 3-2. Women’s Doubles went to Miwa Harimoto and Satsuki Odo – making it a Japanese sweep of Women’s events this week in Slovenia.
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