FULL MATCH | Hugo CALDERANO vs Truls MOREGARD | MS R16 | WTT Cup Finals Xinxiang 2022

So Ugo Calderano on his own out here. Tell you more about that later. Wishing Jean-René Meunier and the whole team all the best. What a cover of that wide forehand. A scrappy first point with half-long touch shots from the baseline. What appeared to be a great shot for the opening. Truls Moergaard getting extension to counter back. Tough to read Truls Moergaard. If that ball comes down, it's gonna be trouble. Both players can go behind the back. We've seen it before. Calderano with the big shot after the opening attack by Truls Moergaard. Now Truls Moergaard I've likened to Adriana Diaz. He's got that punch backhand along with a variety of other shots. A lot of feeling, a lot of trickery, and a lot of power as well. Rocket backhand, Ugo Calderano when he's close to the table. That backhand can even beat world number one, and it has. Obviously with all the other skill sets, tactics that Ugo brings to the table. Good touch play here to tie it up. Truls Moergaard, there's Jorgen Persson in the corner. 1991 Men's Singles World Champion over Jan Ove Walden. The Mozart of table tennis. Beautiful counter with the spin coming in. Calderano, when he makes these shots count and plays them early, it's not always taking the first attack. It's keeping the quality of the opponent's attack weaker for you to counter. One other strategy. Good backhand inside the table. Truls Moergaard rarely hits two shots in a row the same. Obviously he's had to practice to get here, but you can see that he really loves to play. For example, chop block right off the bounce. This shot is so difficult to execute, but once it's done right, it's tough to know exactly how much rotation is on it and the ball's bending. Out of the comfort zone in that shot with a forehand flick. Now it might be obvious, yes, you don't make a living playing table tennis. There are a lot easier options to make it to the top or make a steady living, in theory, unless you love playing. But there's just an element of play and creativity in Truls Moergaard's game that makes him very exciting to watch. A quick run of points. Down what, two, three? Truls Moergaard. Serve gets away from Hugo Calderano, a gift. Truls Moergaard. Cracking backhand finds the net. Moergaard keeps it uncomfortable. He's got six game points here. Right down the line. Calderano just shaking it off. Knows it's one step in the right direction, but still a long way to go. What did he do to the ball? Pretty fancy finish there. But you wouldn't expect much less from Truls Moergaard, would you? The world number three, doing well so far. That forehand to follow the serve over the table, fearless play. Could go on and on talking about Jorgen Persson, the contributions he's made to Swedish table tennis. Next generation, the young men for Sweden. Truls Moergaard, the youngest of the really brightly shining stars, alongside two world champions, the men's doubles, Matthias Falk and Christian Karlsson, one of the last to beat Wang Chuqin from outside of China. Along with Tomokazu Harimoto, with the world champs in Chengdu just a few weeks ago. Calderano on one point now. Similar to the last shot we saw in game number one, but just too long for the table there. And Truls saves that point, scooping it from under the table. He had a punch, Calderano hanging in there, was able to withstand all the variety of shots. That punch, open racket there. Look at this one. That was like shin height. And another one on the reach about waist height below the table as he leans. Big point there for Truls Moergaard. This is the backhand that rarely comes back. Hugo Calderano looking for those opportunities, looking to create them. With surprising lengths on the serve, Truls Moergaard doesn't like to play anything back too standard. If it's standard, you've probably seen it before and know what to do. But this is anything but standard. The side spin as he just brushes that ball slowly. You can even see fans in the crowd saying, man, I gotta practice that shot. Nothing inspires you to play like watching the world's best. Four, six. Two point game here, Hugo Calderano looking to get his power shots in. It's interesting, he's got an outstanding forehand, he's got a rocket backhand. Hasn't really had too many opportunities to get them into play. Five, six. Tight serve here, one point game. That's the thing about Truls Moergaard, even if he misses the shot, he's gonna take his chances. The last thing he wants to do is play afraid, play a normal game against the plan. Soft block, just slows it down. Everything has intention. Something a little bit different with every ball. Funny, I think anyone who goes to a local club has somebody who does that, just likes to play a little bit of a tricky style. Keep it unusual. But at the top level, obviously with the strength, the first two points of this match, we saw Truls Moergaard, it was the very first point of the match, even out of position was able to put enough pressure on. Slow and spinny. A four point lead now. Wengoliong style serve out there in his hometown and then spun to the deep corner. Good flick over the table here, Calderano with that forehand flat shot. Call it a flick because you can't get the full stroke. Table is an obstacle, so you have to just flick the wrist to slap the ball a bit more, at least on the forehand. Long serve and patiently waiting on that step around. Truls Moergaard doesn't commit to anything too early, doesn't guess, just reads as it happens. Starts to turn the corner, anticipates that much, but doesn't move in over the table. And the chop block does it, just jabs in there with the side and underspin. And it's Truls Moergaard with a two to zero lead. Well, it's still not over yet. Ugo Calderano down zero two in games. Just missing long there. Still looking for those opportunities. Oh, bird! Truls Moergaard on that backhand corner. So comfortable with that back edge of the table. Just shallow on the last lob. Good work here from Calderano to get Truls behind the table. This is interesting for me. It's tough to tell exactly what it's like out there. It's tough to say that you've ever seen someone play a player like Truls Moergaard because no one else really plays like him. His brother Malta, actually, they say plays even trickier than Truls Moergaard, obviously, world number three. Put all the ingredients together in just the right way. Worked incredibly hard to make it so high in the game. What a response here from Ugo Calderano for the chop block. Refused to get passive in this moment. As mentioned before, when a chop block comes in, especially as low as this, it's natural to get a bit passive. But Ugo forces a flick on that ball, just guiding it out to the wide forehand. Tied up now, three points apiece. It is a must-win game for the Thrill from Brazil. Surprise placement here from Truls Moergaard. Gets a flatter shot from Ugo Calderano. Chop block's being handled quite well right now. Calderano here with the backhand rocket. Refusing to get passive. Spinny shot right off the bounce there. They're smothering. Waiting to see. Could've been a bad lip reading, but who knows. Good wrap on this one. Meaning he adds a little bit of sidespin with the topspin, the way he wraps around the ball. See that wrist bend from Moergaard? Because again, anything common would be unusual for Truls Moergaard. Oh. The in-and-out play right now, Truls Moergaard. That playful sense, every shot. Empty serve completely from Calderano. You could read the label on it. This one barely comes off the back edge. Right down the line, Calderano just not enough time there. Here we go, the backhand that we've seen on occasion throughout this match. The backhand that was quite starring when he beat world number one, Ban Zhendong, 2018. Oh! Just saying that, world number one, 2018. Ban Zhendong makes me want to look up. I mean, he's way ahead in world ranking points right now. If he does well in this event, he could be cemented for quite some time. Although, with the new WTT structure, with smashes on the way, there is a lot of, say, volatility in the world rankings, a lot of movement. Just long, and Hugo Calderano right now, the thrill from Brazil within one point. This is a must-win game for Hugo Calderano. Right into the body. Well played, over the table, is able to keep the wrist back to guide that. Bit to the shorter side. Soft touch with side spin. Full swing from the corner. He was licking the lips in the meantime. Juicy ball out there, looking delicious. So, looking at the rankings as well, the distance between Ma Long and the rest of the top five in the world, other than Liang Jingkun, who's taken a rest and suspended for a bit. Tomokazu Harimoto, Truls Moorgaard, both could pass by Ma Long. They do well here in this event. Ma Long with the narrow victory, coming back from down quite a bit against Darko Jorgic earlier, but these two here, they get into the business end of game number three. It's all up to Hugo Calderano here. Good spin coming in, and Truls Moorgaard still with a surprising shot. Tight serve, long push, soft and spinny. And Truls, so much feeling in that hand. Caresses the ball back. But a rip of a forehand here. Calderano sends it into the third towel break with a bit of confidence. Again, empty serve, almost no rotation. Perfect placement. As soon as the opportunity arises. Decisively goes for the wide shot out of reach. On the line, Truls on the run. Didn't see exactly what the issue was. Ah, caught the edge. There we go, from the other angle. Tough to see the diversion there, but a bit of fortune for Truls Moorgaard. Now he has match point. Ooh, just misses long. A chance here. Hugo Calderano is not gonna take that for granted. Any little bit of opportunity he can get. That was a tough position to be in. That could have been the end of this match. But here we are in dupes. Game number three. Tight serve earns game point. The thrill from Brazil could extend this one a long way to go, but one point at a time. And there it is, the spinny backhand comes in. Well now, match point saved, and Hugo Calderano. Players back to the table. Hugo Calderano hanging on. If he can work to get these shots in, it's easy to go for the touch game at this level. I mean, both of these players have incredible touch. So I feel like Truls Moorgaard holds up some smoke and mirrors with all his touch play and invites people in, hypnotizes them to play his game. You wanna be aggressive, but it's uncomfortable. Hugo Calderano finding ways to control and really taking the opportunity at the first chance to get aggressive. A good kick serve here, heavy spin on the second bounce. I guess right off the racket, heavy spin, but that second bounce really taking a jump. Soft hands here on the receive, Truls Moorgaard. His receive game has been very strong. Calderano, though, 75% of the first four points. Perfectly into the middle. Calderano fans are gonna be excited here at the start of this game. Still a long way to go. Fast, long serve, Truls Moorgaard with the surprise factor high. First towel break, only two points between them. Little chance for Hugo to practice his chop blocks as well on that let serve. Cautious play, Calderano didn't try to kill it on that second attack. This one right there, heavy spin. Watch the follow up. Again, heavy spin to the middle. That's the finisher. The one before, though, was impressive. He didn't go for too much, just kept the racket high in case it came back, which it did. Clear disappointment out here. Frustration, Truls Moorgaard, we've seen him when he's angry. We've also seen him in just the opposite. Hugo Calderano with some serious momentum here. 12 of the last 16 points, as you just saw. Calderano completely changing the game here. Ah, the first time we've seen a passive response to a chop block, but Moorgaard really pulls all the steam off this one, leaves it spinning and inside the table. Can Hugo Calderano continue with the momentum? Serves on his side to do it. I'm a little surprised. Again, it feels a little bit more like being hypnotized. The beam has sucked you into the touch game. Timeout here on Hugo Calderano's side. As a table tennis fan, which you are, that is a must. So Hugo Calderano up by one here out of the timeout. There it is, that's the Hugo Calderano that beat world number one. That's the Hugo Calderano that won Tunisia, WTT Tunis. He's got feeling, no question about it, but why play the opponent's game? Calderano back, back on track. Jamming him up there. And you can force someone to take the ball a little bit later behind the body, ooh. And a gift from Troels Moorgaard. You can hear the sound and the reaction from the crowd. Not afraid to take risks, Troels Moorgaard. Two points away, Hugo Calderano. Quality receive over the table. Again, it takes a very fine angled racket. It's a very fine margin. Between breaking your racket on the table, injuring your hand, and making that attack with a pretty good swing. Perfect placement here, corner to corner. Troels Moorgaard stays close for those wider angles. The way he holds the racket there, it's really tough to tell what he's gonna do with that backhand. He's got a strawberry, got the banana flick. If he needs it, anything's possible. No timeouts left here for Calderano. Got up to 9-5. He still had one, of course he'd use one now. Three in a row, Troels Moorgaard. Big second serve here. The backhand punch and then the follow-up forehand attack. Troels Moorgaard with the four-point streak to send this into the towel break at nine each. I mean, this was really starting to look like Hugo Calderano's game. It's not over yet for either side. Had himself a match point, Troels Moorgaard, he did. But of the last eight, Troels Moorgaard with five-eighths of them. To turn that and go down the line with a punch, Troels Moorgaard, incredible control, fearless play. Five-point streak just changing up the direction and now another match point for the world number three, the vice champion, 20-year-old Troels Moorgaard. And the side topspin does it. He comes back in the Troelsian pose. The fingertips to the forehead. Match well played. Hugo Calderano really brought the thrills in game four. But Troels Moorgaard, six in a row.