Liam Pitchford has been knocked out by world number 8, Hugo Calderano of Brazil.

In what was described as the battle of the backhands, Calderano looked unstoppable in the first game, storming to an 11-2 victory over Pitchford.

A more respectable score of 11-8 in the second for Pitchford, although he still looked constantly on the back foot as Calderano used his power and athleticism to dominate the game.

Pitchford stuck with the Brazilian in the third game, and at 7-7 cracks started to appear in Calderano’s tactics as his short game let him down and opened up the path for Pitch.

Both players have beaten at least one of the top three Chinese players, and the quality of some of the rallies showed why. Both players are desperate for their first title, but today Calderano looked more focused and driven to achieve that goal as he eased through the last two games to beat Pitchford 4-1.

The Brazilian will face either Darko Jorgic or Lee Sangsu in the final later today.

Don’t forget, Pitchford and Drinkhall still have their men’s doubles final to play, scheduled for 13:30 (although timings are running approx an hour late currently). You can watch this match on Table 1 on the WTT website by clicking here.

 

RESULT

Liam Pitchford (#14) loses to Hugo Calderano (#8) 1-4 (2-11, 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 9-11).