São Paulo – Brazilian table tennis athletes are playing the Qatar Open, an ITTF World Tour Platinum competition taking place in Doha, the national capital. This Tuesday (26) at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena, Gustavo Tsuboi and Thiago Monteiro (pictured above) both won their matches, the Brazilian Table Tennis Confederation (CBTM) reported. Their fellow countryman Hugo Calderano has already moved past the Preliminary stage and into the Main Draw.
Thiago Monteiro beat Quadri Aruna of Nigeria, ranked 25th worldwide, 4 to 1. His next game will be against Italy’s Niagol Stoyanov, 7 am on on Wednesday (27), Brasília time. Gustavo Tsuboi defeated João Geraldo of Portugal, also 4 to 1, and is getting ready to go up against Cho Daeseong of South Korea at 6:10 am on Wednesday, in Preliminary stage 3.
Pairs
Wednesday (27) in Doha will also see the beginning of the tournament for pairs. Hugo Calderano, the number one player in Brazil and sixth worldwide, will join forces with Tsuboi, number 2 in Brazil and 42nd in the world. They will play the Belgian duo Martin Allegro of Florent Lambiet at 8:30 am. According to the CBTM, Calderano and Tsuboi have played a few tournaments together in past, with good results. As a duo, they are currently ranked 17th and placed second in Qatar, 2015.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum