is a Japanese five-time national

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

champion. She competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, reaching the third round of the singles competition. She also competed in the team competition, reaching the bronze medal final but losing to South Korea. At the 2012 London Olympics Women's Team Event semi-finals, she helped

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

overcome

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

to reach their historic first final by winning her doubles match with

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, ...

over

Wang Yuegu Wang Yuegu (, ; born 10 June 1980) is a retired Chinese-born Singaporean table tennis player who was ranked among the top ten players in the world. Wang made her inaugural appearance as a Singaporean table tennis player on the International Tab ...

and

Li Jiawei Li Jiawei (; born 9 August 1981) is a retired Chinese-born former Singaporean table tennis player, four-time Olympian and twice Olympic medalist. She trained in Beijing's famous Shichahai Sports School with Olympic medalist Zhang Yining. In ...

(11-3, 13-11 and 11–4). Japan failed to beat China in the final, but won the first ever

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

for their country in table tennis. In March 2016, it was announced that she would be retiring after the Japanese Table Tennis League Big Tournament in April. She was beaten in the first round by Yuko Fujii and after the match, she said, "I feel I’ve done everything, I might have wanted to play a little better match. I’ve gone into each match thinking as if it were the last, and managed to end without any regrets". After her retirement as a professional table tennis player, she has become a familiar face in Japanese households as a TV presenter and table tennis sportscaster. She is also an adviser for table tennis club MIKI House.

Career records

Singles (as of 10 October 2015) *

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: round of 32 (2008). *

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

: round of 16 (2011). *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

appearances: 4. Record: 5-8th (2014). * Pro Tour winner (5): Serbian Open 2006; German Open 2009;

India Open The India Open is an annual badminton event which has been held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 750 international badminton tournament. Its first three editions were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011, it was upgr ...

2010; Spanish Open 2011; Belorussian Open 2014.
Runner-up (4): Chile Open 2007; Japan Open 2009; Morocco Open 2011; Spanish Open 2015. * Pro Tour Grand Finals appearances: 6. Record: QF (2009, 2014). *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

: QF (2010). *

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asia ...

: Round of 16 (2003, 05, 07, 09). * Asian Cup: 6th (2004). Women's doubles *World Championships: QF (2009). *Pro Tour winner (4): Polish Open 2006; Austrian Open 2007; Japan Open 2009; Egypt Open 2010; Chile Open 2010; Russia 2014.
Runner-up (5): Brazil, Chile, Serbian Open 2006; China (Shenzhen), Swedish Open 2007; Moroccan Open 2011. *Pro Tour Grand Finals appearances: 3. Record: QF (2006, 07, 09). *Asian Championships: QF (2007, 09). Mixed doubles *World Championships: round of 16 (2009, 15). Team *Olympics: 2nd (2012). *World Championships: 2nd (2014). *

World Team Cup The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

: 3rd (2009).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirano, Sayaka 1985 births Living people Japanese female table tennis players Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players of Japan Olympic medalists in table tennis Olympic silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in table tennis Table tennis players at the 2010 Asian Games Table tennis players at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan 21st-century Japanese women