(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
The news on Saturday was Hugo Calderano’s win over World No. 2 Wang Chuqin. This wasn’t just just a simple momentum shift, Calderano was down 1-3 against one of the most dominant players in the world – and he came back winning three in a row.
Picking up action at 3-3, after Calderano won the first game, Chuqin dominated the next three, and then Calderano won two games to tie the score. This set up an epic seventh game in the Semifinals. Chuqin started strong building a 4-2 lead, but Calderano reeled him back in and the two were tied at 5-5. Chuqin turned up the pace largely with cross court forehands – and Calderano was content to move a few steps back to slow the game and keep the rallies going. Both players hit some big shots, and Calderano often played shots with right to left movement, using the spin to turn into the left-handed Chuqin (sometimes handcuffing him in the middle or moving him to the right). Calderano also played his forehand inside-out, to move balls wide of Chuqin’s forehand – Calderano effectively expanded the distance to cover on his own side by moving back, and forced expanded coverage on his opponent by moving the ball around with spins that increased the width Chuqin needed to cover.
With a missed backhand, Chuqin lost his lead, and the two were then tied at 8-8. Calderano jumped at this new opportunity, and returned a blistering forehand down the line to give Calderano his first lead of the final game. The two fought to 10-10 where a sloppy return gave Calderano match point. And on the 21st shot of the final rally, Wang Chuqin’s forehand sails long – giving Calderano the win. Early in that point, Calderano played a two-handed backhand. As the point progressed, both had opportunity to play an aggressive angle, but both chose to hit powerful forehand to powerful forehands down the center of the table. Eventually, the last shot missed, Calderano fell to the ground in celebration, the camera panned past the 13 Chinese players in tracksuits supporting Chuqin over to Bruna Takahashi who appeared to be the only person in Calderano’s corner. World No. 5 has upset World No. 2 – and Hugo Calderano has a signature win on one of the biggest stages of the year.
The other half of the draw had less drama. Shidong and Jingkun have faced off in this Semifinal slot in several major events, and while each have won – the advantage is clearly towards World No. 1 Lin Shidong. In fact going in to this match, Shidong had won 3 of the last 4 meetings. Things started well for Liang Jingkun, pulling out a 15-13 marathon win in the first game. However, Shidong quickly pulled ahead in the second game and never looked back. The next four games were won by Lin Shidong at 4, 5, 8, and 7. A dominant performance over the World’s fourth best player.
Shidong and Calderano will face off on Sunday.
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