After winning the WTT Contender Rio de Janeiro and reaching the semi-finals of the WTT Champions Chongqing, Hugo will next compete in Europe, more precisely in the Slovenian capital. From June 13 to 16, he will play in the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana, at the Hala Tivoli Arena. The event marks his return to the place where he achieved a good result in 2023, finishing in the top four.

SEMI-FINALIST IN 2023

The first edition of the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana was held in 2023 and Hugo was there. On that occasion, he competed as the fifth seed and made his debut by beating South Korean Cho Seungmin (3-1). His second round opponent was Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson, and he won again by the same score. His opponent in the quarter-finals was Japan’s Shunsuke Togami, and the match ended with another win for Hugo, this time in five games.

+ Follow Hugo on his official channels: Youtube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

In the semifinal of the competition, Hugo faced China’s Fan Zhendong, who started the match with a 2-0 lead in games. Hugo reacted and leveled the score, forcing the fifth and decisive game, which the Chinese won.  In last year’s final, Fan Zhendong beat his fellow countryman Wang Chuqin 4-3.

MAIN OPPONENTS

The singles competitions at the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana will feature 48 men and 48 women, with 40 of each qualifying directly for the main draw and eight coming through qualifying. The event will also feature men’s, women’s and mixed doubles competitions. The men’s singles event will bring together seven athletes from the top 15 of the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) world rankings. Hugo, currently ranked 6th, will be the second seed.

+ Read also: look back at Hugo’s results so far in 2024

In addition to Hugo, the other main attractions will be: Frenchman Felix Lebrun (WR5 and 1st seed), Germans Patrick Franziska (WR9), Dang Qiu (WR12), and Dimitrij Ovtcharov (WR14), Japanese Tomokazu Harimoto (WR11), and Swede Anton Kallberg (WR15). In addition to these seven, the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana will feature local athlete Darko Jorgic (WR18). In 2023, the Slovenian athlete was knocked out by Felix Lebrun in the round of 16.

Check out the full list of participants in the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana here.

BRAZILIANS IN SLOVENIA

The WTT Star Contender Ljubljana will have three Brazilians among the entries, with Hugo being the leading name among them. In addition to him, Bruna Takahashi (WR18) is also taking part in the tournament in both the women’s and mixed doubles main draw. And to round off the trio, Vitor Ishiy (WR85) will also be in Slovenia as Bruna Takahashi’s partner and in the qualifying round of the men’s singles.

COMPETITION SYSTEM

All the matches in the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana will be played in a single-elimination system, with the men’s singles champion being crowned in five or six rounds. The matches will be best-of-five games until the semi-final stage. The final will be played in up to seven games.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Check out the ranking points and prize money for the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana:

Champion: 600 points / US$ 10,000

Runner-up: 420 points / US$ 7,500

Semi-final: 210 points / US$ 4,000

Quarterfinal: 105 points / US$ 2,500

Round of 16: 55 points / US$ 1,500

2nd Round: 25 points / US$ 1,250

1st Round: 5 points / US$ 900

SCHEDULE

Check out the schedule for each day of the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana:

Tuesday (11/06) – Qualifying

Wednesday (12/06) – Qualifying

Thursday (13/06) – Round 1

Friday (14/06) – Round 2

Saturday (15/06) – Round of 16 and Quarterfinals

Sunday (16/06) – Semi-Final and Final

+ WTT Rio champion, Hugo climbs two positions in the world rankings

The two-day qualifying matches start at 9 a.m. local time (4 a.m. Brasilia time). The main draw matches are scheduled to start at 1pm in Slovenia (8am Brasília time).

HOW TO FOLLOW

The Star+ streaming service will show the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana main draw matches in Brazil between Thursday 13th and Sunday 16th. The qualifying matches will be broadcast on the World Table Tennis YouTube channel. And, as always, we’ll also have our coverage on Team Calderano’s Instagram and Telegram channels!