Tomokazu Harimoto, Mima Ito headline Japan's 2020 table tennis squad
The Japan Table Tennis Association announced Monday the six players who will represent the Olympic host nation at the 2020 Tokyo Games. The men's team consists of world No. 5 Tomokazu Harimoto, No. 15 Koki Niwa and No. 16 Jun Mizutani, while the women's team ...
Teen duo Miyu Kihara, Miyu Nagasaki capture table tennis Grand Finals title
The women's doubles pair of Miyu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki won their first ITTF World Tour Grand Finals championship on Sunday. After a close first game, the 15-year-old Kihira and her 17-year-old partner Nagasaki, the world junior singles champion, rolled to a 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 ...
Mima Ito captures first singles title of season on World Tour
Table tennis star Mima Ito defeated the former women's singles world No. 1 to capture her first title on this year's International Table Tennis Federation World Tour at the Austria Open on Sunday. Ito, ranked seventh in the world, beat China's Zhu Yuling 4-1 in ...
Tomokazu Harimoto wins Bulgaria Open for first title of season
Tomokazu Harimoto defeated China's Zhao Zihao in the men's final of the Bulgaria Open on Sunday, claiming his first title on the ITTF World Tour this season. After losing a close exchange in the fifth game, the top-seeded Harimoto came back strong and wrapped up ...
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 ...
Hina Hayata, Mima Ito prevail in all-Japan semifinal at worlds
Hina Hayata and Mima Ito became the first Japanese women's doubles pair in 48 years to reach the table tennis world championship finals with a victory over compatriots Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato on Saturday. Hayata and Ito, who claimed bronze at the last worlds ...
Katsumi Asaba is having a good laugh
One of Japan's top art directors brings together the mischievous, the comical and the jokers for an exhibition to prove "Humor is the heart of communication."
Hosting bids open for Tokyo 2020 table tennis qualification events
The International Table Tennis Federation announced Thursday it has opened the bidding process for cities to host two qualifying events next year for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The events, dubbed "Rise2Tokyo," consist of a team qualification tournament and a singles qualification tournament to take place ...
Chinese table tennis apparatus lays down warning to coaches ahead of 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Chinese table tennis has gone on a war footing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, vowing to dock coaches their pay and demote them if they fail to keep the country at the pinnacle of the sport. China tops the men's, women's and team world rankings, ...
Retired table tennis star Ai Fukuhara announced Wednesday she is pregnant and expecting her second child next spring. "I have been blessed with a second child," the 30-year-old Fukuhara said on her official blog, adding she wants to contribute to the future of children, as ...
Ambitious T. League begins play at Ryogoku Kokugikan
With the lofty ambition of eventually becoming the world's best table tennis circuit, the T. League kicked off competition at a lavishly decorated Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Wednesday night. The organizers staged a glitzy opening show, featuring choreographed lighting and videos played on screens ...
Ai Fukuhara decided it was right time to step away
There were no traits of a crying baby. Instead of shedding tears, which was her trademark in childhood, Ai Fukuhara kept smiling and repeated the words of appreciation as the 29-year-old table tennis icon spoke to the media on Tuesday, two days after announcing ...
