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Table Tennis At The 2020 Summer Olympics
Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo featured 173 table tennis players. Table tennis had appeared at the Summer Olympics on eight previous occasions beginning with the 1988 Summer Olympics. Qualification As the host nation, Japan had automatically qualified six athletes; a team of three men and women with one each competing in the singles as well as a mixed doubles team. For the team events, 16 teams were qualified. Each continent (with the Americas being divided into North America and South America for ITTF competition) had a qualifying competition to qualify one team. Nine teams qualified through a world qualifying event. The mixed doubles also had 16 pairs qualify. Each continent (with the Americas being divided into North America and South America for ITTF competition) had a qualifying competition to qualify one pair. Four teams qualified through the World Tour Grand Finals 2019 and five through the World Tour 2020. Japan was also guaranteed a place. If an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fan Zhendong
Fan Zhendong (; born 22 January 1997) is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 for men's singles by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). After joining the Chinese National Table Tennis Team in 2012 as the youngest member of the team, he went on to become the youngest ITTF World Tour Champion and the youngest World Table Tennis Champion. He achieved the top spot in the world rankings after holding position No. 2 for 29 consecutive months, starting from November 2015. Fan's attacking style of play involves explosive footwork and powerful forehand loops. His thick-set build has led fans and commentators to affectionately refer to him as "Little Fatty" (). His continuous rise to becoming one of the top table tennis players in the world has garnered him a large fanbase worldwide, with over half a million followers on Chinese social media site Weibo. In 2016, he won the ITTF Star Point Award, and he was nominated for the Best Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miu Hirano
(born 14 April 2000) is a Japanese table tennis player. She won Women's World Cup in 2016 as the youngest ever winner. She won the women's singles at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships by sweeping away three top Chinese players. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in women's team event. Career 2014 In March 2014, she and Mima Ito won their first doubles title at ITTF World Tour German Open. They became the youngest ever winners of the doubles competition in the ITTF World Tour. She was part of the Japanese team in 2014 Asian Games, but lost to China in the final. In April 2014 she won her second doubles title with Mima Ito at the ITTF World Tour Spanish open. In December 2014, she won the doubles title with Mima Ito at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Bangkok. The pair defeated Singapore pair of Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu in the semi-finals and Poland pair of Katarzyna Grzybowska and Natalia Partyka in the final. 2015 On 5 July 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kasumi Ishikawa
(born 23 February 1993) is a Japanese table tennis player. A regular member of the Japanese national team, she won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's team. She is a left-handed inverted rubber shakehand player who primarily uses speedy top-spins and loops in offensive play. Biography Kasumi Ishikawa's entire family, which consists of her father, mother, and younger sister, play or used to play competitive table tennis. She has a younger sister, Rira, who was also a professional table tennis player, while her mother Kumi Ishikawa is her current coach. Upon graduation from Hirakawa Primary School in Yamaguchi, Ishikawa wrote in the yearbook of her dream to play in the Olympics. She first got public attention when she managed to defeat high school and even university students much older than her in her first ever All Japan Table Tennis Championships. Since 2007, she has won ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wang Manyu
Wang Manyu (, born 9 February 1999) is a Chinese table tennis player. She is the current world champion in women's singles and doubles. In the 2017 T2 Asia Pacific League, she replaced Ding Ning in round 2 for team Persson. 2018 began with Wang Manyu defeating world number one Chen Meng in the Hungarian Open Quarterfinals before going on to win the championship with wins against Chen Xingtong in the semi-finals and Sun Yingsha in the finals. In March, Wang Manyu was selected for the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships women's team after placing second in the team qualifiers. After a successful WTTC, Wang defeated Chen Xingtong in the Hong Kong Open women's singles final followed by victory against Ding Ning in the China Open women's singles final. Career 2021 In May, Wang was selected as a reserve for the Chinese National Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Shortly after, she won the second leg of the Chinese Olympic Scrimmage, defeating Olympic women's singles representat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mima Ito
is a Japanese table tennis player. She won a bronze medal in the Women's Team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics when she was 15 years old. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal with her partner Jun Mizutani in the Mixed Doubles event which made its debut, a bronze medal in the Women's singles, and a silver medal in the Women's Team event. Often termed as the 'greatest threat' to Chinese table tennis dominance, Ito Mima has the highest winning rate against Chinese players in the history of women's table tennis. She has a winning record against several top Chinese players, including world champion Liu Shiwen, former world no. 1 Zhu Yuling and world junior champion Qian Tianyi. Her signature playing style entails lethal shovel serves, fast short-pimpled backhand punches and flat forehand smashes. In March 2020 at the Qatar Open, Ito Mima recorded a 4–0 win against reigning Olympic champion Ding Ning in the semifinals. Notably, she won the third set 11–0, making ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun Yingsha
Sun Yingsha (simplified Chinese: 孙颖莎; born 4 November 2000) is a Chinese table tennis player. She is the current world No. 1 in women's singles. Career 2019 In the 2019 World Team Cup, Sun came back from down 10–7 in the deciding fifth game to defeat Mima Ito in the finals against Japan. In an interview in 2021, Sun referred to this match as her precious match. 2021 Sun started out 2021 as number two in the world rankings. However, after China's decision to withdraw from all international events until the Tokyo Olympics, Mima Ito passed Sun for the number two position in the world rankings. In April, ITTF amended the seeding system for the Olympics such that she would be seeded above Mima Ito. In May, Sun was selected to represent China in the women's singles and team event at the Tokyo Olympics. In China's Olympic Scrimmage, Sun lost to Chen Meng in the finals of the first leg and to Wang Manyu in the semi-finals of the second leg. In June, Sun lost to Zhang Rui (table ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chen Meng
Chen Meng (; born 15 January 1994) is a Chinese table tennis player and the current World No. 2 in Women's Singles. She joined the provincial team when she was 9 and joined the national team when she was only 13 in 2007. She is the women's singles champion of the ITTF Women's World Cup in 2020, the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and also at the inaugural WTT Singapore Smash. She is also the silver medalist of women's singles in the 2019 World Championships and a double gold medalist in the 2020 Summer Olympics. Career 2011 Won 4 golds at the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in girls' singles, girls' doubles, mixed doubles and teams. 2020 After competitive table tennis resumed following the pandemic, Chen swept the world cup, ITTF pro tour finals, and 2020 All China National Championships. 2021 In May, Chen was selected to represent China in the women's singles and team event at the Tokyo Olympics. Chen won the first leg of the Chinese Olym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomokazu Harimoto
is a Japanese table tennis player. In 2016, he won the world junior singles and team title at the 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships for Japan. In August 2017, he became the youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour men's singles title, winning the Czech Open title at the age of 14 years and 61 days. In December 2018, he became the youngest player to win the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals at the age of 15 years and 172 days. Personal life Harimoto was born as Zhang Zhihe () in Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture. His father Zhang Yu () and mother Zhang Ling () are both former professional table tennis players from Sichuan province, China. Zhang Ling, at the peak of her career, represented China at the 43rd World Table Tennis Championships in Tianjin. His younger sister is also a table tennis player competing in the U-18 junior table tennis circuit. Harimoto began playing table tennis at the age of two. He became a naturalized citizen of Japan in 2014 and legally changed his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koki Niwa
is a Japanese male table tennis player. He is the gold medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympics and he won the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in 2010 (doubles) and 2011 (singles). On 21 April 2012, he defeated Ma Long of China, World Rank no 1, to become the first player to be qualified for 2012 Olympics from the Asian Olympic Qualifiers. Since 2012 he has been playing for the German Team TTC matec Frickenhausen. He won the 2014 Russian Open singles title. Career Junior career Niwa had a prolific junior career beginning in 2008. He reached the quarter-finals at the 2008 India Junior Open in Pune, India, and won the doubles title with his partner Yuki Hirano. At the 2008 World Junior Championships in Madrid, Spain, he partnered with Kenta Matsudaira to reach the semi-finals. The following year, Niwa partnered with Asuka Machi to win the 2009 ITTF Cadet Challenge and ITTF Junior Circuit Finals in Tokyo, Japan. At the 2009 World Junior Table Tennis Championships, Niwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jun Mizutani
is a retired Japanese table tennis player. He became the youngest Japanese national champion at the age of 17. His consecutive singles titles at the national championships from 2007 to 2011 made him the first man to win the event five times in a row. After defeating Vladimir Samsonov for the bronze medal by 4–1 in the 2016 Rio Olympics, he finally seized his first singles medal in the three main international tournaments. It was also the first Olympic table tennis singles medal of his country. Career 2021 In March, Jun Mizutani played in the WTT Star Contender event at WTT Doha, but he suffered a round-of-16 upset to Ruwen Filus. In June, Mizutani claimed that he and Mima Ito had a 70–80% chance of medalling and a 30% chance of winning the gold medal in mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics. Mizutani will also play in the team event in Tokyo. In July, Mizutani and Mima Ito defeated Liu Shiwen and Xu Xin in the mixed doubles finals to become the first non-Chinese to win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timo Boll
Timo Boll (, ; born 8 March 1981) is a German professional table tennis player, who currently plays for Borussia Düsseldorf. He is ranked second in the German Table Tennis National League, and fifteen in the ITTF world rankings as of October 2022. Boll ranks among the best German table tennis players of all time, having ranked world No. 1 in 2003, 2011 and in March 2018. Childhood Boll was born in Erbach im Odenwald, Hessen. Boll started playing at age 4, and was coached at the time by his father. In 1987, he became a member of TSV Höchst. At age 8, he was discovered by Helmut Hampel, a Hessian trainer who promoted him. In 1990, he started to train at the training centre Pfungstadt and four years later changed teams to with whom he took part in the Second Division, at which time he attracted the attention of other table tennis associations. recruited him in 1995, a move which required the entire team to relocate 170 km away, to Höchst, to enable daily training with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
