The World No. 7 Hugo Calderano registered a stunning victory against six-time Olympic medal winner Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany to set up a title clash with Felix Lebrun of France the World Table Tennis Star Contender Goa at the Peddem Indoor Stadium in Mapusa, Goa on Sunday.
Brazil’s Calderano began the semi-final match on a positive note and won the first game before former World No. 1 Ovtcharov made a comeback to level the score in the thrilling contest. However, Calderano looked in control of his shots in the next two games and clinched a 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 15-13, 11-6) victory over the German paddler.
World No. 8 Felix Lebrun, on the other hand, also continued his winning form to enter the finals of the men’s singles category. The 17-year-old French paddler lost the first game but made a fine comeback to defeat Patrick Franziska of Germany by 3-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-9) in the semi-final match.
Meanwhile, World No. 24 Nina Mittelham produced an upset in the semis of the women’s singles. The German paddler got better of World No. 8 Shin Yubin by 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 1-11, 11-8) in a thrilling contest to reach the final where she will face Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching who defeated Monaco’s Xiaoxin Yang 3-0