Calderano and Harimoto return for WTT Sao Jose dos Campos 2026

Hugo Calderano and Miwa Harimoto will headline WTT Star Contender São José dos Campos 2026, turning Brazil’s next stop into a real marker of where South America sits on the table tennis map. The event is scheduled for 21-26 July at the event space in Vale Sul Shopping, carries USD 300,000 in prize money, and will be the first WTT Star Contender ever held in São Paulo state.

Calderano enters as the home-region centerpiece and the player whose presence gives the tournament instant weight. WTT lists the Brazilian at world No. 8 in the men’s rankings, while his ITTF ranking history shows a career-best No. 2, a reminder of the level he has already reached. He also arrives with recent proof that he can turn a Brazilian stop into a title run: at WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu 2025, Calderano powered through a strong field, beat Oh Junsung and Yukiya Uda on the way to the final, then edged Benedikt Duda 4-3 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 14 minutes.

Harimoto gives the women’s side the same kind of pull. WTT lists the 17-year-old Japanese star at world No. 3, and its profile copy already frames her as a multiple WTT title winner, which is why she is not simply a seed but a headliner. She won the women’s singles title in Foz do Iguaçu last year, and her return raises the ceiling for what the São José dos Campos event can deliver. The women’s field also includes Miyu Nagasaki, Satsuki Odo, Hina Hayata and Honoka Hashimoto from Japan, alongside Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi and continental names Adriana Diaz, Lily Zhang and Daniela Ortega.

The men’s draw is just as deep around Calderano, with Alexis Lebrun, Darko Jorgic, Shunsuke Togami and Patrick Franziska all entered. That mix makes the tournament look less like a local exhibition and more like a high-end ranking battle, which is exactly what WTT needs as it keeps building elite events across new markets.

Brazil’s run of WTT stops has already moved from Rio de Janeiro, which hosted Contender events in 2023 and 2024, to Foz do Iguaçu in 2025, and now to São José dos Campos. Putting Calderano and Harimoto at the center of that shift gives the first Star Contender in São Paulo state a prestige level that should travel well beyond the venue doors.