Calderano's 2025 World Cup title marks a watershed moment for table tennis

Brazilian star Hugo Calderano defeated China's world No. 1 brother Lin Shidong in the final of the 2025 Macau World Cup Table Tennis Tournament on the evening of the 20th Beijing time, writing a new page in the history of South American table tennis.

Calderano became the first Brazilian to win the men's singles title at the World Cup since it was held in 1980

In the men's singles final that detonated in the finale, although Lin Shidong took the lead 11-6, Calderano won 4 games in a row 11-7, 11-9, 11-4, 11-5, and won the men's singles World Cup for the first time with a total score of 4-1. Calderano became the first South American player to win a men's singles medal and reach the final in three major table tennis tournaments, and now he has reached the next level, winning the World Cup and breaking through the monopoly of European and Asian players. The ITTF's official website commented after the match that Calderano's victory marked a watershed moment in table tennis, breaking China's dominance in the men's competition and marking the sport's entry into a new era of global competitiveness. Throughout the final, his tactical talent was on full display, and he insisted on taking the lead and disrupted Lin Shidong's rhythm with clever rhythms and landing point changes.

Calderano became the first Brazilian to win the men's singles title at the World Cup since it was held in 1980. In addition, this is the first time that a Brazilian and South American athlete has won first place in a global table tennis competition, and the first non-Chinese athlete to win the world championship since 2003. By Tuesday, he will also regain the best ranking of his career in the world No. 3.

Calderano has become more and more courageous in this tournament, defeating Japan's three-time World Cup medallist Tomokazu Tomoto 4-1 in the quarterfinals, defeating China's former world No. 1 Wang Chuqin 4-3 in the semifinals, and defeating Lin Shidong, who wants to defend China's men's singles in the final.

This is the second meeting between Calderano and Lin Shidong, and the first is the former winning the WTT Durban Challenger 2023. Lin Shidong reached the final of the Table Tennis 3 major (Olympics, World Table Tennis Championships and World Cup) for the first time at the age of 20, but ultimately failed to win the men's singles championship in the World Cup for China for four consecutive times (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2024) since the 2018 Games.