Cazuo Matsumoto (born August 2, 1985 in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

) is a Brazilian

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player. He competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

as part of the Brazilian team in the men's team event.

Career

Cazuo Matsumoto was ranked no.207 in the world in 2002. At 20 years old, in 2005, he was ranked no.213. He first entered the global top 100 in May 2012. In 2007, he participated for the first time in the

World Championship 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, ...

, in

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and doubles, being eliminated from the first round in both. At the 2008 Olympic Games, he was an alternate athlete to participate in the team modality. In 2009, Matsumoto became Latin American Championship champion in singles, defeating Hugo Hoyama in the final, in doubles playing alongside Hoyama, and in mixed doubles. At the end of March 2013, Matsumoto obtained a historic victory over the Japanese

Jun Mizutani is a retired Japanese table tennis player. He became the youngest Japanese national champion at the age of 17. His consecutive singles titles at the national championships from 2007 to 2011 made him the first man to win the event five times in ...

, one of the ten best in the world, in the Team World Cup, where Brazil fell to Japan. In April 2013, Matsumoto, after becoming the first Latin American to win a tournament on the world circuit, rose to 45th in the world rankings, the highest position ever achieved by a table tennis player from the country at that time. In July 2013, he was the No. 1 table tennis player in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. At the end of 2013, he qualified for the

ITTF World Tour Grand Finals The ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, formerly named ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals, is an annual table tennis tournament sanctioned by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) at the end of the year. The tournament includes seven events: men's and wome ...

, which would be held between the 9th and 12th of January 2014, in Dubai. In 2014, Matsumoto won the

Latin American Table Tennis Cup The Latin American Table Tennis Cup is an annual table tennis competition being held since 2011. It consists of Men's and Women's Singles events. Only 12 invited players and no more than 3 players per association are allowed to participate in each e ...

. Matsumoto achieved a great result at the

2015 World Table Tennis Championships The 2015 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Suzhou from 26 April to 3 May 2015. The Championship was staged in China for the fifth time and was the 53rd edition of the individual competition. The decision was announced by ITTF in Marc ...

, where, playing alongside Thiago Monteiro, he reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament, only being eliminated by the Korean duo, who finished with bronze. With this, they repeated the feat of Dagoberto Midosi and Ivan Severo, who, in 1954, also reached this stage in the World Championship held in Wembley, England. In singles, he reached the 2nd round at the

2013 World Table Tennis Championships The 2013 World Table Tennis Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from May 13 to May 20, 2013. The Championships were the 52nd edition of the World Table Tennis Championships. These were the first Champ ...

, and in mixed doubles, he reached the 2nd round at the

2011 World Table Tennis Championships The GAC GROUP 2011 World Table Tennis Championships was held at the Ahoy indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands from May 8 to May 15, 2011. This decision was announced in February 2008. It was the 51st edition contested. The tournament w ...

and

. Cazuo Matsumoto represented Brazil at the Rio Games in 2016 and then chose to dedicate himself to coaching, at Itaim Keiko/JJ Yamada and at his own gym, Match Point, alongside his wife and fellow Olympic athlete

Jessica Yamada Jessica Yamada (born 13 October 1989) is a Brazilian table tennis player. She competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 ...

. Away from national competitions, he returned in September 2021 to compete in some tournaments.Cazuo Matsumoto e Giulia Takahashi vencem os Absolutos A do TMB Platinum
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsumoto, Cazuo 1985 births Living people Brazilian male table tennis players Brazilian people of Japanese descent Olympic table tennis players for Brazil Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics South American Games gold medalists for Brazil South American Games silver medalists for Brazil South American Games medalists in table tennis Competitors at the 2006 South American Games 20th-century Brazilian people 21st-century Brazilian people Sportspeople from São Paulo