So far 2017 has been a banner year for sports prodigies. In June, Mima Ito and Hina Hayata, both 16-year-olds, became the youngest pair from Japan to reach the semifinals of the women’s doubles at the Table Tennis World Championships, winding up with a bronze medal.
The same month, 14-year-old Sota Fujii won 28 straight official matches, equaling the all-time winning streak in the traditional board game of shogi. As Japan’s youngest professional, the modest Fujii received celebrity-level coverage on TV and in the print media during his streak, and has been credited with inspiring a shogi boom among the country’s youth.
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