Hugo was one of the stars of the Brazil Olympic Awards, held on Friday night in Rio de Janeiro. For the first time in his career, he was nominated for the main trophy, which was awarded to Marcus D’Almeida (archery) in the men’s and Rebeca Andrade (artistic gymnastics) in the women’s events. He was also voted table tennis player of the year for the tenth time in a row. In total, he has won 13 awards at the yearly event, as he was chosen Fan Favorite in 2019 and 2022 and Best Athlete of the School Olympics in 2009 (Watch the video below).

The nomination for the men’s athlete of the year awards caps off a year of great achievements by Hugo. He won the Pan American Games singles title for the third time and also took team gold, and silver in the doubles with Vitor Ishyi. He won the Pan American Championship title in Havana, both in the singles and teams, and celebrated three WTT Contender titles in Durban, South Africa, Doha, Qatar, and Muscat, Oman.

After a mini-vacation in Brazil, Hugo returned to Germany last week. In a Bundesliga match, he won both his games against Adrien Rassenfosse and Romain Ruiz. This Saturday, he joins his teammates in Ochsenhausen against RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell at 3pm Brasília time, with live streaming on YouTube.

As well as defending his team in Germany, Hugo is preparing for the Finals of the 2023 season of the World Table Tennis Circuit. The event will take place from January 3 to 5 in Doha, Qatar, and will bring together the top 16 players in the world singles rankings.

Hugo won’t be staying in Ochsenhausen for the end-of-year celebrations because of his preparations for the tournament. As his club mates are going home for Christmas, he’s going to Dusseldorf, where he can continue his preparations with the Borussia team, the current Bundesliga runners-up. The trip to Doha is scheduled for December 31st.