Ovtcharov shocks Calderano in Doha

Doha: The 31st edition of the Qatar International Table Tennis Championships, WTT Champions Doha 2026, continued for its second day at the Lusail Aren...

Doha: The 31st edition of the Qatar International Table Tennis Championships, WTT Champions Doha 2026, continued for its second day at the Lusail Arena.

The tournament, featuring men’s and women’s singles competitions, runs until January 11 and boasts a stellar lineup of top-ranked world champions. The top 32 male players represent 16 countries, while the top 32 female players represent 15. Leading the field are China’s Lin Shidong, ranked second in the world, and China’s Wang Manyu, also ranked second.

Yesterday’s matches saw the remaining Round of 32 contests for both men and women. In a major upset, Brazilian Hugo Calderano, the reigning world champion, was eliminated after losing to Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov. The match went to five sets and ended 3-2 in favour of Ovtcharov.

“About seven months ago he was in the final of the World Championships, now Hugo is a Top 3 player in the world, maybe even top 2 with the results he has pulled off in the past season. So, of course this victory gives me a big boost for this event, and also the start of the season,” Ovtcharov said.

“Of course there’s some relief, I had a tough season. I had surgery last year and many tough losses, in the fifth game having Match Points and so on. To win the match today, also doing it 11-9 in the fifth against one of the best players in the world gives me confidence to get back on track,” he added.