Hugo Calderano has signed a contract with 1. FC Saarbrücken - TT for the 2026-27 season, the club announced in a press release.
Calderano will compete in Saarbrücken's Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) matches, the Liebherr Cup and Champions League matches next season.
Calderano will make his return to the Bundesliga after leaving TTF Ochsenhausen at the end of the 2024-25 season. Ochsenahusen won both the German Championship and the Liebherr Cup that year, the latter of which came after defeating Saarbrücken in the Finale.
This week, the 29-year-old from Brazil became the first non-European, non-Asian player to rank in the top two of ITTF’s Men’s Singles rankings list. Last year, he became the first player born in the Americas to win a gold medal at the ITTF World Cup.
This news comes shortly after Darko Jorgic announced his decision to leave Saarbrücken following the end of the 2025-26 season. Jorgic’s absence was set to create a hole in Saarbrücken's roster that has since been filled by the World No. 2.
Next year, Saarbrücken could field a potential roster headlined by Calderano, Fan Zhendong and Patrick Franziska (Men’s Singles No. 22). Saarbrücken’s Champions League matches could consist of Calderano, Fan and World No. 4 Truls Moregardh.
Saarbrücken won this year’s Liebherr Cup in January after defeating Ochsenhausen, Calderano’s former club, in the Final Four. The club currently ranks as the Bundesliga’s third seed with a 12-4 record and a point differential 24:8.
Saarbrücken will play its next match on Friday against the French club GV Hennebont in the Champions League. After that, Saarbrücken will play top-seeded Borussia Düsseldorf in a Table Tennis Bundesliga match on Sunday.
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