Country: Brazil
Place of Birth: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date of Birth: June 22, 1996
Playing Style: Shakehand, Offensive, Right-handed
Table of Contents
Biography
Hugo Calderano is a Brazilian professional table tennis superstar. He was born on June 22, 1996, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player ever to come from the Americas. He is the only player from the continent of America to win the Table Tennis World Cup – one of the three biggest table tennis tournaments in the world.
Calderano started playing table tennis at the age of 8. Coming from a family of physical education teachers (both his parents and his grandfather), he learned several sports at a young age. Aside from table tennis, he also played volleyball and basketball.
At age 14, Calderano is South American and Latin American Children’s Champion. At age 18, Calderano obtained bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympics gold.
Olmpics
In 2016, Calderano competed at the Summer Olympics in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. In his Olympic debut, he reached the round of 16, where he faced Japanese legend Jun Mizutani. Although he lost, the young Calderano put up a strong fight against the experienced Japanese veteran in a tightly contested six-set match.
In 2020, Calderano returned to the Olympics, this time as the No. 4 seed. He reached the quarterfinals, where he lost 2-4 to Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Calderano advanced to the semifinals but fell 2-4 to Truls Moregardh. In the bronze medal match, he faced Felix Lebrun but was defeated 0-4. In an interview after his 2025 World Cup victory, Calderano became emotional while discussing his painful reflections on the Paris Olympics.
Calderano has won a total of 10 senior WTT titles.
World Cup 2025
Hugo made history in 2025 edition of the World Cup that was held in Macau. He beat Lin Shidong 4-1 who was the world’s #1 table tennis player at the time. With this victory, he became the first and only player from the Americas to be a world champion.
Social Media
Hugo Calderano has several social media accounts. His most active is his Instragram page with close to 1.4 million followers as of December 2025. The handle is @hugocalderano . He has a YouTube account where he shares table tennis content. The handle is @Hugocalderano . He has Facebook and X accounts but are not active compared to the previous social media stated. His Facebook handle is @HugoCalderano , and his X handle is @hugocalderano .
Sponsorship
Hugo Calderano is sponsored by XIOM – a popular South Korean table tennis brand.
Teammates
Hugo Calderano’s teammates from Brazil:
Vitor Ishy
Eric Jouti
Playing Style
Hugo Calderano is a right-handed shakehand-grip offensive player. He has a very good high-toss serve, which allows him to launch powerful attacks. He is widely known for his explosive power in both his forehand and backhand. Calderano also has a very strong pushing game that often catches his opponents off guard. For example, his opponent might anticipate a short return, but Calderano would suddenly push the ball deep to the backhand side, causing the opponent to lose balance and make a weak return.
Equipment
World Ranking
Hugo Calderano has a world ranking of #3 as of December 21, 2025.
Highest World Ranking
Hugo first achieved his highest world ranking of #3 on January 2024.
World Titles
Visit Hugo Calderano World Titles to view his titles.
Popular Videos
Lin Shidong vs Hugo Calderano (World Cup 2025 Finals)
Hugo Calderano vs Wang Chuqin (World Table Tennis Championships Finals)
Liang Jingkun vs Hugo Calderano
Forum Dicussions
Popular forum discussions about Hugo Calderano
