(Photo: WTT)
Brazilian Rafael Turrini won another match this Thursday (28) and made it through qualifying for the WTT Feeder of Otocec, a table tennis event, in Slovenia. This time, he beat Swiss Elias Hardmeier by 3 sets to 2 (9/11, 11/5, 8/11, 11/4 and 11/6). Thus, Brazil will have four table tennis players in the main individual draws of the competition.
Number 373 in the world ranking, Rafael Turrini came from two victories the day before, including against compatriot Carlos Ishida. This Thursday, he needed a lot of effort to overcome Hadmeier, 950th in the world. Despite the difference in rankings, the Swiss played a great match and had a 2 sets to 1 lead. However, Turrini managed to turn things around with 11/4 and 11/6 in the last splits to emerge victorious.
Guaranteed in the main draw of the WTT Feeder of Otocec, he joins Guilherme Teodoro (130th) and Leonardo Iizuka (173rd), who were already classified due to their rankings. Iizuka and Teodoro, in fact, will face each other in the first round of the competition, this Friday (29), at 2:20 pm (Brasília time). Turrini, in turn, will play against Romanian Andrei Istrate (145th), at 12:35 pm.
In addition to the three boys, Brazil will also have Giulia Takahashi in the women’s contest in Otocec. She, who is 80th in the world rankings, will debut against Italian Gaia Monfardini (108th) this Friday, at 8:20 am. Brazil still has Guilherme Teodoro/Carlos Ishida and Rafael Turrini/Leonardo Iizuka, in men’s doubles, and Giulia Takahashi/Guilherme Teodoro, in mixed doubles.
22 years old from São Paulo. Journalist graduated from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). I’ve been at Olimpíada Todo Dia since 2022. I covered the World University Games in Chengdu and the Pan-American Games in Santiago-2023.
