Macao dream comes to an end for Calderano
21 April 2023
Hugo Calderano saw his WTT Champions Macao 2023 dreams come crashing down on Friday evening as the 5th seed succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of 4th seed Ma Long (11-7, 11-8, 11-6).
The Brazilian star made history by becoming the first player from the Americas to reach a WTT Champions quarterfinal, but knew he’d require a special performance to battle past Ma who had won all four previous encounters in the match-up.
Spectators fortunate enough to be in attendance at Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion were excited to see the two titans clash on Infinity ∞ Arena, and they weren’t left disappointed as both players approached the match with high intensity.
Suffering a shock round of 16 exit at WTT Champions Xinxiang 2023, Ma has been a man on a mission since the start of the week in Macao in his pursuit of redemption, and he started his quarterfinal showdown with Calderano well, finding his stride early on.
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Calderano gave it his all in game two as he attempted to leave his mark on the contest, but would leave the audience concerned as he fell to the floor in pain after overextending his reach during a high octane rally at 7-7.
Grimacing as he returned to his feet, the Brazilian opted for a short medical timeout but thankfully returned to the table. Soldiering on, Calderano proved unable to recover the game in time and now faced the daunting prospect of a two-game deficit.
With nothing to lose, the World No.6 began taking more risks in his shot decision, and he couldn’t have asked for a better start to game three as he chalked up the opening four points.
However, it wasn’t enough as double Olympic champion Ma raised his game another gear to secure his ticket to the semifinals.
Check out the complete results so far from Day 5 here.