Tomokazu Harimoto aiming to end Chinese table tennis supremacy
Eighteen-year-old world No. 4 Tomokazu Harimoto is hoping to do what many would consider near impossible: end China's 13-year Olympic men's singles table tennis reign by claiming Japan's first gold in the sport. In his Olympic debut, the naturalized Japanese athlete, born to Chinese parents ...
Mima Ito, Hina Hayata come up short in final at world championships
FP-JIJI Mima Ito and Hina Hayata finished as runners-up at the table tennis world championships on Sunday, losing the women's doubles final against China's Wang Manyu and Sun Yingsha 4-2. Ito and Hayata, bronze medalists at the last world championships in 2017, were attempting to become ...
Tomokazu Harimoto eliminates Olympic champion Ma Long in Japan Open quarterfinals
Teenage star Tomokazu Harimoto beat China's two-time Olympic champion Ma Long on Saturday in the Japan Open quarterfinals. Ma, currently the world champ and a former world No. 1 who won his first Japan Open men's championship in Tokyo last year, succumbed to the sixth-seeded ...
China taking notice of Japan's rising talents
Although the Japan Open showcased Chinese table tennis supremacy rather than Japan's rise, China's stars have a wary eye on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic hosts — if their words are taken at face value. Kasumi Ishikawa, Mima Ito and Asian champ Miu Hirano all crashed ...
China's 16-year-old Sun Yingsha marked a stunning ITTF World Tour debut by winning the Japan Open women's singles on Sunday, while world No. 1 Ma Long claimed his first title. Sun, who won the women's doubles title a day earlier at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, was ...
Ito squanders two-game lead against Wang in Japan Open quarterfinals defeat
Sixteen-year-old Mima Ito relinquished a 2-0 lead against 2014 and 2015 world junior champion Wang Manyu, bowing out of the Japan Open in the women's singles quarterfinals on Saturday. Ito made a bright start, but threw away chances to sway the match and with it ...
Japan managed to take a match off China but the two-time defending Olympic champions prevailed 3-1 in the end to win another gold medal in the men's team event at the Rio Games on Wednesday. Jun Mizutani saved three match points to score his first ...
Ai Fukuhara had one of the best wins of her career Tuesday, beating world No. 4 Feng Tianwei in straight games to move into the Rio Olympics women's singles semifinals. Later in the day, countryman Jun Mizutani got past Marcos Freitas to progress to the ...
