July 3, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” South Carolina men’s tennis alumnus Thiago Pinheiro will open competition in the World University Games in Gwangju City, Korea, on Saturday. Competing for his home country, Brazil, Pinheiro is one of 79 singles entries and 34 doubles entries in the event.

Earning a spot on the Brazilian team after winning the Liga do Desporto Universitário de Tênis (LDU) event in his hometown of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in November, Pinheiro begins singles play on Sat., July 4, at 12:30 p.m. (July 3, 11:30 p.m. EST) against Arief Rahman of Indonesia. The winner moves on to face the tournament’s No 11 seed Patrick Thomas Ofner of Austria.

Pinheiro will team with Victor Cruz Morales in doubles action, which begins on July 5. The Brazilian duo has a bye in the first round and will take on Austin Rapp and Martin Redlicki of the United States in second-round play.

The World University Games are held every other year on odd-number years. As a multi-sport event with international participation form university students, it is the largest sporting event after the Olympics. The event is divided into the Summer Universiade and the Winter Universiade with each being held in different cities. To be eligible to participate in the Universiade, athletes should be undergraduate or graduate students between the ages of 17 and 24 as of January 1 of the year the Universiade is being held or have graduated in the year immediate preceding the year of the event.

GamecocksOnline.com for will follow Pinheiro’s progress throughout the event, or follow the 2015 Summer World University Games at www.gwangju2015.com.