You Won’t Believe Who Won This EPIC Final! 🏆 | ITTF World Cup 2025 | Hugo Calderano vs Lin Shidong

That's the big trophy that we're looking at. So we're about to start off with a big finale here. Lin Chi-Dung to serve. Well-tamed the first point. It's got that characteristic jig. Normally he does it after he warms up or just to, I mean after he wins a point, or just to kind of stay mobile and motivated. Calderano pulling a point away from his opponent and Lin Chi-Dung will claim that point back. Well this time service here from Calderano, just boxing his opponent a tad bit. Lin Chi-Dung not reading that too well. It's two all, still even Stevens. So while Lin Chi-Dung does dance from foot to foot, let's not forget Calderano will probably make a really great husband someday. He really loves to clean the table and that's just a player default. All of us have it. His counter foot lets us ease up during the points. He'll also do to keep that area clean so that it presents the best possible surface for him to play on. Calderano two points behind now as Lin Chi-Dung holds his serve and he's dragged that out. He's a bit of a complex player to read Lin Chi-Dung because the use of his spin in most of his shots is just, it's so deceptive. Well that's a powerful run from Calderano. Would have been a good bit of speed in that too. Now six three. There's one thing that Calderano will know to have reached you know the finals of the World Cup. He wouldn't want to let this go easy. Lin Chi-Dung on the other hand for him too. You know in his first years, first few months as well number one. He's back in. Once again Lin Chi-Dung will win that battle. He's four points ahead now. I think Calderano just having a little bit of trouble well reading into the 20 year olds game. Well keep in mind the fact that. Four seven. So four seven. That's another winner here for Lin Chi-Dung who seems to be dominating this first game. It's been a very good start for him. With a speed of 63 kilometers per hour and that's what I spoke about earlier. The spin. 102 rps. Wang Hao. Eight five. Calderano says he has won right back at you. Now this is a very interesting equation. These gentlemen have met only once before and that was in 2023. Two years ago at the World Table Tennis Contender in Durban, South Africa. And in that one in the quarterfinals Calderano won it 3-2. Well times have changed. Back then Lin Chi-Dung was a paddler on the on the rise. Today he's at the top of the heap. And a lot has changed in his game since then as well. Calderano just served at 5-9. Calderano just struggling to get those shots right. And it's game point for Lin Chi-Dung. Left 5-10. Calderano will serve again. All fine backhand there. Absolutely fine backhand from Hugo Calderano. 58 kilometers per hour. Winner speed 129 rps. That winner speed. So yes Lin Chi-Dung still at game point. Lin Chi-Dung wins it 11-6. Well he's actually dominated most part of this game. Calderano just struggling a little bit to find all that form that he's displayed in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Let's not forget having said that this is a very different opponent. It's a tricky one and I think it's just about being able to read Lin Chi-Dung's game which is the problem. Calderano is eight years his senior. He's seen a lot more of the sport than world number one. A fine athlete. Calderano from a family of athletes. Full name of course is Hugo Marinho Borges Calderano. Borges is his family name. He was born in Rio de Janeiro. Started playing table tennis at the age of eight. His mother, father and grandfather were all physical education teachers. He was encouraged to play sports from a young age. From 10 to 12 he was a member of the Rio volleyball team and was pre-school state champion in the long jump. Well he's pretty tall. Long legs as well. Calderano. And he'll claim that with Lin Chi-Dung just not providing the return this time. Lovely flick there. Absolutely lovely flick there from Lin Chi-Dung. That is such a decisive shot that he does use. It's for Calderano. One-two. Well-famed this one. Move to move to Sao Paulo in his teens to continue with table tennis. Got a few kicks up his sleeve but this one's not gonna work. Also has a two-handed backhand that he often uses. That's just the same as his good friend Simon Gauzy of France. It's very few players he used that two-handed backhand to all. Lin Chi-Dung still holding his own. Calderano will have to well come up with the plan here against this lad and that's going to be different from what he did in the last two games. Well he's working on it. He's definitely working on it. One of the most creative players that we've seen in recent times Hugo Calderano. And he's beaten some of the big guns of table tennis over a period of time. But that is the decisive shot and that'll stay hit. Absolutely wonderful player from Hugo Calderano. It's now Calderano with a slender lead. Lin Chi-Dung will draw level. That is a very good backhand straight down the line here from Calderano. Calderano looking a lot stronger in this game. Lin Chi-Dung just dominating the first one. But here the Brazilian fairly in control of his stroke play. He's not going to be happy with that. Just keeping that beyond the net. Calderano very smartly served. And there's always going to be a bit of appreciation for fine play and talent. Lin Chi-Dung himself fearless as a competitor but he does know that he's up against one of the best. And service here. That's pretty much how you do it. Beautiful service. And it's those tricks that he brings out that can be such a problem for the opponent. He just drew Calderano into that. That's one-two team. Wall number two. Well dominated the wall number one spot for a good bit of time. Also an absolutely stunning player to watch in action. Calderano's win against him was just wow. He was really one for the records. Six all now. Seven, six. Calderano fighting back as well as he could. Won a bronze in the youth olympics at the age of 18 in Nanjing, China. He's no newcomer to Chinese opponents. Has a couple of friends here as well. Six, eight. Oh smartly done in a baseball catcher's move from Lin Chi-Dung. Oh that is tight reflexes. So six, eight. The world number one to serve. Six, nine. And Calderano knows what this means. He's got to keep fighting back. Oh well played there. Lovely change of direction. He's got a powerful forehand too. Ten, six. And that's got to be well game point here for Calderano. Remember Lin Chi-Dung took the first one. Eleven, six. Lin Chi-Dung quick backhand here. Straight back to Calderano. In Calderano's direction. Just not giving him enough time to react. That's what he does best. Ten, seven. Game point still for Hugo Calderano. Eleven, seven. And Calderano will claim the game. So it's going to be one all here. And this is beginning to look like a fight. And I absolutely love it. So I'm always one for a challenge. It's just awful to see a game go down. You know it's a one-sided affair. If it goes down to the wire, I'll be the happiest man alive. Good performance here. Great comeback from Hugo Calderano. Really throwing, you know, from all his friends. So eleven, six. Eight, seven. Seven, eleven for Lin Chi-Dung. Into the third game. Third game. Lin Chi-Dung will serve. Forehand. Just blast that forward. That's a quick flick. That's gonna stay hit. One love here. Rose to world number one. 11th February 2025. He stayed there. One all. Well played there by Hugo Calderano. Just opening up the face of the racket. A bit of side spin. Lin was picked from the Hainan provincial team in 2015 after winning the singles title at the National Youth Championship in 2020. Drafted into the Chinese national second team. Well may have been off the edge but he will claim it. Calderano leads here. Well that's such an unusual shot. Straight on the edge. A good comeback there from Calderano. So Lin of course is the pride of the Hainan province. Being the first member from that region to be drafted into the team. Promoted to the national first team in 2022. Won his first WTT title at the WTT FIDE European Summer Series 2022 in Budapest. 2-3. 2-3 now. And four gold medals at the 2022 World Youth Championships. And in 2023 defended all four titles again. It's a good rally. Lovely angle there from Lin Chi-Dung as he pulls level. Fighting back here in this. Just trying to regain that momentum that he created in the first game. But he's on fire. He is on fire. Calderano on the other hand is a cool customer. He's a thinking world table tennis player. Very strategic in the way that he approaches the game. Lin Chi-Dung is more about pace. I was expecting that. Well finished. Lin Chi-Dung it's all about pace. It's quick attacks. It's that generous dose of spin. Tries to drown you out in it. Calderano lovely loop drive from him earlier. Calderano it's a point behind Lin Chi-Dung. Come on. Oh nicely done. Nicely done. I want to keep that straight. Backhand drive makes all that. I want to return it back. Oh lovely return there from Lin Chi-Dung. Calderano really swinging his arm into that one. Absolute power there. And what a beautiful return. Quick reflexes from the 20-year-old. And Wang Hao's expression says that I'll absolutely love him. He was not just a terrific player in his time. He's such a fantastic mentor and coach. But his expression every time is just priceless. Five all. Calderano to serve. Well it's there from Calderano. And I'm sure that after the previous game of course Wang Hao would have had a few good words. Well a few bits of advice to give Lin Chi-Dung. Calderano holds his serve here. So a couple of big wins here for Lin Chi-Dung. I think the biggest one would have been in really the career boosting or the morale boosting one in 2024. When in the China smash he got the better of Mark Hawthorne. Then of course in the contender musket he won against Juan Rubio and then against Anton Sholberg at the Frankfurt Championship. All in 2024 and that was his big rise. And then this year the Singapore smash just taking his ranking to number one. And interestingly of course he defeated Liang Chengkong 4-2. He also was up against Liang Chengkong yesterday and he got the better of Liang Chengkong 4-1 yesterday. So here's Lin Chi-Dung as he draws level in the third game. This is proving to be a battle of wits here between these two fine paddlers. Well Chen Shentong she fell to Sun Yingsha yesterday 4-1. Oh lovely flick there. Lin Chi-Dung once again just finding his feet here. Got that powerful backhand considered by many paddlers as the best in the world. Also an attacking forehand. He uses excessive backspin and topspin to control the game. That's what I mean. The ability to just mix it up there. Now two points ahead of Calderano. Lin Chi-Dung to serve. He's got a fair chance here of claiming this game if he can hold serve. And Calderano says I'm not done yet. A lovely forehand. They're very very fluid. One of the talents of this young lad of course that ability to push the opponent back. He likes to hit deep. It's got to be nine all. Calderano's here for a reason. Calderano himself is no well newcomer. 2021 World Table Tennis Championship reached the quarterfinals. Lost to Liang Chengkong. Came back later on to defeat stars like Jang Woo-Jin of Korea Republic. Dmitry Ovcharov was the one that he fell to and that was in the Olympic Games. Picked up a bronze medal in Tokyo 2020. Oh such a fantastic backhand there from Calderano. Calderano now at game point. That's 11-9. The second game deader Hugo Calderano. Oh that was such a fantastic point to win. It's a more closely fought encounter than the second game. But just look at that. A bit of net play. Decisive backhand flicks and it's Calderano that will ruin Supremio. So two games to one and Lin Chi-Dung has a fight on hand practically for the first time in this tournament where he's been dominated most of his games. But it's the Brazilian taking this game to him now. Calderano leads two games to one and Wang Hao definitely will have viewed everything that's happened. Stay with us. Don't go anywhere. So as we return back here it's going to be the fourth game and this has turned out to be such an interesting match. And I do love the fact of course that you know we've seen well so many games this in these last few rounds and that round of 16 quarterfinals and the semifinals. We saw so many of the big guns being ejected from the tournament including the wall number two, the wall number three. But here we are. Wall number one against wall number five. Calderano will serve. We serve here. Those forehands have been fairly powerful here from Calderano. That swing, he's got that big swing of that right arm. Lin Chi-Dung serves at one two. I think the odd bit is changing your strategy is so important. As I said this earlier Calderano is a thinking player. Lin Chi-Dung improvises as he goes along and he's and that's his forte. It's all going to boil down to who wins this mental battle here today. Now Lin Chi-Dung will claim one back. Oh that trademark flick. While supporting their teammate. So Calderano leads by two points now. It's sort of an amazing thing when you look at the Chinese table tennis team no matter what happens when their players in there. You know and they may be so competitive against each other but they will come out and support their lad. They will come out and support their girls. It's just exemplary. I mean it's the national sport pretty much of China and that tells us the story. How well played they are. Lin Chi-Dung now going toe-to-toe with Calderano on those huge forehand moves. Calderano now three point lead. Well I'm just going to say if it goes to a few more points Lin Chi-Dung will probably look at a timeout. But that's a good comeback. A very good comeback here from the world number one and every point earned is worth its weight in gold and you can make out by the celebration there from either of these paddlers. All those big forehands coming and both these players now playing from a distance are not playing up close and well that just goes to show well the mutual respect as well besides the skill. Oh well played there placement from Calderano and it's I said this earlier it's really going to boil down to those mind games between these two. They are fantastic athletes both have phenomenal skills. It's the reason why they are both in the finale but who wins the mental battle here today. For the time being Calderano just holding the edge but don't put anything past the world number one. Calderano's had a highest ranking of world number three. Oh that's another decisive shot you would have thought fairly aggressive here today Hugo Calderano to world number three first February 2022 and he's looked around in that top region for a long period of time. 9-4 now and I do think Lin Chi-Dung will just will have to do a little of a rethink here. It's game point once again for Calderano. It's experience versus extreme skill. That's going to be the third straight game for Hugo Calderano and that comes as a bit of a surprise. Three straight games and Calderano now has one foot across the finish line. Oh he's made Lin Chi-Dung sweat that's something that Lin Chi-Dung has done to all his opponents throughout the course of this tournament. Don't know whether he's actually got the rest of that game and lost this game. Stay with us as we continue with the men's finale of the IPTF Men's World Cup 2024. Just a recap of the scores 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4. Fifth game Lin Chi-Dung lost all. Lin Chi-Dung will serve in the fifth game. Looking a lot there you know he's controlled that point. That's the kind of play that we're used to looking at. Well it's off the edge but a point is a point in the final and Hugo Calderano will gracefully accept it. Calderano point ahead now. Well I do believe it's a timeout and a timely one. It was a long time coming and Lin Chi-Dung definitely needs a chat there with Wang Hao at this point of time. Do stay with us as we continue with the finale. Wang Hao will have the right advice for him no doubt. As we get back from the timeout let me remind you once again the only time these lads have met before is 2023 in Durban at the WTT Contender and Calderano just replying back to everything and I think that just for a moment he has unsettled Lin Chi-Dung. There's a bit of experience that comes into play here. 5-1. 5-1 now and that's what happens the exuberance of youth up against the wisdom of the experience and I do believe Calderano really drawing from all his experiences as he's been on the scene for a long period of time. Eight years the senior of Lin Chi-Dung did get the better of his Chinese counterpart but that was as I said 2023 when he won at 3-2 in a quarterfinal game and much better from Lin Chi-Dung. Liang Jingkung well who was ejected from the tournament by the 20 year olds yesterday 3-5 now. Wang Hao with a word of cheer there for his lad. It's been an interesting one for Calderano that big win over Wang Chuqin 4-3 while it was Lin Chi-Dung who beat Liang Jingkung 4-1. And then if you go you know a little while back Lin Chi-Dung with that huge win over Truls 4-love and he's definitely backing it here and a timeout taken by well Hugo Calderano and that's after well a few quick points there for Lin Chi-Dung who's come back with a slight change in strategy all due to this man. 4-5 and the game will resume with Lin Chi-Dung serving at 4-5. Calderano calling that timeout earlier. Left 4-5. Well well done there Calderano three powerful forehands in the same direction. Yes testing Lin Chi-Dung. Well he had to come back in it he was just so sure that those points were just falling away from him and I think that timeout mainly because well he was peaking here and you don't want to lose that momentum he's just holding steady with that it's currently 7-4. Lin Chi-Dung well I think now in a spot of trouble and Lin Chi-Dung will fight back for 9-5 yeah and the problem with Lin Chi-Dung has been he's had so many errors here today Calderano opposing those from him 9-5. Oh that's match point now championship point ah that was Calderano just pulling that puppet out from under Lin Chi-Dung's feet for the last three games and you're in the fourth game leads by five points. Hugo Calderano consecutive days to beat the world number two and then the world number one it is a big one here from Hugo Calderano and he is going to remember this for a long long time to come well his girlfriend there to support him during the entire event