A brilliant first game from Hugo Calderano. (Photo WTT)
It was all about Brazil with victories in both the men’s and women’s Team events, putting the rest of Stage 1B on notice as an eventful first day at ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London.
Ranked favourites to qualify from Stage 1B, the Brazilian men’s team, led by Hugo Calderano, opened its account against another side from the Americas, defeating Puerto Rico 3-1.
While Angel Naranjo kept things interesting with his winning display against Leonardo Iizuka winning 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, it was the Calderano show on Table 5, the “Thrill from Brazil” outclassing Steven Moreno 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 before dishing out the same treatment to Naranjo 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 to give Brazil two valuable points in Group 4.
That 3-1 victory was matched by the Brazilian women’s team in its opening Group 5 encounter with Kazakhstan.
Two successful outings for Bruna Takahashi saw her carry out the lion’s share of the work, but Laura Watanabe also played a pivotal role, squeezing past Zhanerke Koshkumbayeva 11-4, 7-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9at the death to be the difference maker for Brazil.
While Kazakhstan suffered an early setback to its women’s team campaign, two wins for Kirill Gerassimenko saw Kazakhstan to victory in its men’s team opener.
Gerassimenko was pitch perfect in both of his contests, dispatching Abdullah Yigenler 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 and Gorkem Ocal 11-5, 11-3, 11-5 without so much as a scratch. Another win courtesy of Aidos Kenzhigulov was enough to cement a 3-1 win over Türkiye.
Hong Kong faced off against The Netherlands in a match that had been billed as a potential table-topping showdown in Women’s Team Group 4. The hero of the hour was Doo Hoi Kem, who won both of her encounters against Britt Eerland (11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 14-12) and Jie Li (11-6, 13-11, 11-9) to lead Hong Kong, China to a 3-1 victory.
Joining Hong Kong at the top of the Group is Mexico, who made a dream start to the week, taking down Macao 3-0.
Clio Barcenas and Arantxa Cossio got the ball rolling for Mexico with convincing wins over Leong Lok Ian (11-6, 11-5, 11-6) and Seak Hui Li (11-3, 11-4, 11-4) respectively. But it was Monica Munoz who stole the show, digging deep at two games down to deny Cheong Chi Hun 4-11, 1-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 to put Mexico in a great spot one match in.
The shock of the session came in the men’s team event, as Spain staged a stunning 3-1 win over Group 5 favourites Slovenia.
With the match entering a crucial juncture, Spain moved into a 2-1 lead, and if Alvaro Robles could convert against Darko Jorgic, the win would be theirs. The two players left everything out on the table, going right down to the wire. But just when it looked like Jorgic had it covered, it was Robles who had the last laugh, stealing it 13-11 in the decider to put Spain in pole position winning 12-10, 11-13, 12-10, 12-14, 13-11.
