Gustavo Tsuboi (born 31 May 1985) is a

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

player from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, he won three medals in double and team events in the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

. Along with Hugo Hoyama and Thiago Monteiro, Tsuboi was part of the winning team at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

and

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

. Tsuboi won the gold medal at the inaugural 2011 Latin American Cup held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

after defeating Paraguay's Marcelo Aguirre 4–0. Tsuboi competed in table tennis at the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Career

In the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, Tsuboi's best campaigns in singles were the 2nd round in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. His best performance was in 2013, when he managed to make it difficult for the Chinese player

Zhang Jike Zhang Jike (; born 16 February 1988) is a retired Chinese table tennis player. Zhang became the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to achieve a career Grand Slam when he won gold in men's singles at the Olympic games in London 20 ...

, almost winning the first set and winning the second. In doubles, Tsuboi reached the 3rd round (round of 16) three times, in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, each time losing by 4 sets to 2. The best campaign was in 2009, when playing in Japan and making it difficult for the Japanese duo to win, who ended up being bronze medalists in the tournament. In mixed doubles, Tsuboi managed to reach the 3rd round (round of 16) in 2013, being eliminated by the Chinese pair seeded n.2, but managing to win a set of them. At the

Table Tennis World Cup The Table Tennis World Cup has been held annually since 1980. There had only been men's singles until the start of women's singles in 1996 and team competitions in 1990. The competitions are sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation. ...

, Tsuboi made history by reaching the quarterfinals of the competition in 2015, equaling Brazil's best result in the tournament's history. Until then, Cláudio Kano, in 1987 and 1989, had also reached the quarterfinals. He also reached the round of 16 in 2017 and 2018. At the

2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships The 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships were held in Halmstad, Sweden from 29 April to 6 May 2018. The quarterfinal between North Korea and South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. ...

, Tsuboi reached the quarterfinals playing with

Hugo Calderano Hugo Marinho Borges Calderano (; born 22 June 1996, in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian table tennis player and considered the greatest player from the American continent in the history of the sport. In January 2022, he was ranked No. 3 in the ...

and Eric Jouti.

2021

At the WTT Star Contender in Doha, held in March 2021, Tsuboi reached the round of 16 after defeating the Japanese Koki Niwa (17th). He was eliminated by South Korean Jeoung Youngsik, 13th in the world rankings.

2020 Olympic Games

At the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo, Tsuboi, 37th in the world, by defeating Nigerian

Quadri Aruna Quadri Akinade Aruna (born 9 August 1988) is a professional Nigerian table tennis player. He competed for Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics, and 2020 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals in 2016. He is the first ...

(21st in the world ranking), became the 3rd Brazilian in history to reach the round of 16 in the Olympics. The feat had only been achieved by Hugo Hoyama (Atlanta 1996) and

(Rio 2016).

Best results by type of tournament

Singles

Tsuboi's best ranking was no.28 in the world in 2019. * Pan American Table Tennis Championships: Bronze medal (2019) *

: Runner-up (2015) *WTT Star Contender: Round of 16 (Doha 2021) *

: Quarterfinals (Halmstad 2015) *

World Table Tennis Championships The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men ...

: Second round (2011, 2013, 2015) *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: Round of 16 (Tokyo 2020)

Doubles

In 2017, the duo Tsuboi / Calderano was the 3rd best in the world rankings, behind only the Japanese Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima and the Chinese Xu Xin and Zhang Jike. *

: Champion (2019) *Super series: Silver (Qatar Open 2015) *Hungarian Open 2016: Silver *Swedish Open 2017: Gold *Rio de Janeiro Open 2017: Gold *

: Round of 16 (Yokohama 2009, Suzhou 2015, Dusseldorf 2017)

Team

From April 2021 to June 2023, the Brazil team was the 6th best in the world. * Pan American Table Tennis Championships: Champion (2019, 2021) *

: Champion (2007, 2011, 2015) *

: Quarterfinals (Dubai 2010, Germany 2011, China 2013, Dubai 2015, London 2018, Tokyo 2019) *

: Quarterfinals ( Halmstad 2018) *

: Quarterfinals (

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

) Tênis de mesa por equipes: Brasil perde para Coréia do Sul nas quartas de final na Olimpíada de Tóquio
/ref>

References