is a Japanese male

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 ...

player. He is the gold medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympics and he won the

World Junior Table Tennis Championships The ITTF World Youth Championships is an annual table tennis competition for juniors under 19 and under 15. From 2003 to 2019, the World Junior Table Tennis Championships was held for juniors under 18. The ITTF changed the U18 age group into U19 ...

in 2010 (doubles) and 2011 (singles). On 21 April 2012, he defeated

Ma Long Ma Long (; born 20 October 1988) is a Chinese table tennis player and the reigning Olympic singles champion. Widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player of all time, he is the first and only male player to complete a career Double Grand ...

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 Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, and won the doubles title with his partner Yuki Hirano. At the 2008 World Junior Championships in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, 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 Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. At the 2009 World Junior Table Tennis Championships, Niwa reached the quarterfinals in the men's singles event before being defeated by Lin Gaoyuan. Niwa qualified for the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships in

Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

by defeating Josef Simoncik in the qualification tournament. Niwa reached the round of 64 before being defeated by Germany's

Dimitrij Ovtcharov Dimitrij Ovtcharov (russian: Дмитрий Овчаров) or Dmytro Ovtcharov ( uk, Дмитро Овчаров; born 2 September 1988) is a Ukrainian-born German table tennis player. His father Mikhail (or Mikhaylo), a Soviet table tennis cha ...

. At the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics, he won a gold medal in the Boys' Singles Event, and a gold medal partnering Ayuka Tanioka in the Mixed team event. Niwa won the U21 title at the 2011 Dortmund Pro Tour German Open by defeating Kim Min-seok. At the 2011 Incheon Pro Tour Korea Open, he defeated Jeoung Youngsik to obtain his second U21 title that year. At the 2011 Manama World Junior Table Tennis Championships, he won the gold medal in the men's singles event, defeating Lin Gaoyuan of China.

2012: Breakthrough

By 2012, the 17-year-old world junior champion was gaining widespread attention. His breakthrough came at the 2012 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament where he overcame world ranked No. 1

and became the inaugural Asian player in the sport to qualify for the Olympics. Partnering with Kenta Matsudaira, Niwa overcame the Chinese pair of Wang Hao and

Zhou Yu Zhou Yu (, ) (175–210), courtesy name Gongjin (), was a Chinese military general and strategist serving under the warlord Sun Ce in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. After Sun Ce died in the year 200, he continued serving under Sun Quan, ...

to win the 2012 World Tour Polish Open doubles title.

2013

Niwa qualified for the 2013 World Table Tennis Championships seeded 15. He reached the fourth round in the men's singles event before being defeated by

. He partnered Kenta Matsudaira in the doubles event and reached the third round before losing to compatriots

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 ...

and

Seiya Kishikawa is a male Japanese table tennis player. He paired with 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 ...

. At the 2013 World Tour Japan Open in Yokohama, the Niwa/Matsudaira pair lost in the finals against compatriots Jin Ueda and

Maharu Yoshimura is a Japanese table tennis player. Life and career 1993–2010: Early life and background Yoshimura was born in Ibaraki Prefecture to a Filipina mother and a Japanese father. His first name is a Japanese transliteration of the Tagalog word " ...

2014: First ITTF World Tour Title

At the 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Niwa won 4 out of his 5 matches, contributing to Team Japan's bronze medal. At the 2014 World Tour Grand Finals in Bangkok, the Niwa/Matsudaira pair lost in the final to Korean pair Cho Eonrae and Seo Hyundeok. Niwa won the 2014 World Tour Russian Open title in the men's singles event, defeating England's

Paul Drinkhall Paul Andrew Drinkhall (born 16 January 1990) is a British table tennis player. He won the English Championship in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017. Career Drinkhall was born in Middlesbrough. His career in table tennis started in 1997 whe ...

in the final. The Niwa/Matsudaira pair competed in the semi-finals and were defeated by the Russian pair Fedor Kuzmin and Grigory Vlasov.

2015

At the 2015 World Table Tennis Championships, Niwa reached the 4th round before being defeated by China's

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 i ...

. In the doubles event, the Niwa/Matsudaira pair reached the semi-finals, and were defeated by Fan Zhendong and

. This was the last international partnership with Kenta Matsudaira.

2016

At the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships in

Kuala Lampur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, Niwa contributed to Team Japan's success in winning the silver medal. The team lost to Team China in the final. Niwa represented Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's singles event. He reached the quarterfinals before being defeated by eventual silver medalist

Zhang Jike Zhang Jike (; born 16 February 1988) is a retired Chinese table tennis player. Zhang became the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to achieve a career Grand Slam when he won gold in men's singles at the Olympic games in London 20 ...

. In the Men's team event, Niwa contributed to team Japan's first silver medal in the category. However, Niwa expressed discontentment with his performance, not winning any singles matches.

2017

Niwa began the year by winning a bronze medal at the 2017 ITTF Asian Championships in Wuxi, China. In the quarterfinals, he defeated world ranked #3 Xu Xin, but lost to Korea's Jeong Sangeun in the semi-finals. At the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships, Niwa partnered with

to win the bronze medal. The Niwa/Yoshimura pair reached the semi-finals where they lost to Chinese pairing and eventual champions

and Xu Xin in the men's singles event, he reached the quarter finals, defeating

in the fourth round, and losing to

in the quarterfinals. At the 2017 World Tour Japan Open, the Niwa/Yoshimura pair reached the finals of the men's doubles event where they lost to the Chinese pairing of

and Xu Xin.

2021

Niwa will play in the team event of the Tokyo Olympics. In March, Niwa played in the WTT Star Contender event at WTT Doha, but he had an early round of 32 exit to Gustavo Tsuboi. Niwa lost to Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the round of 16 in the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics. Niwa upset Mattias Falck in the quarter-finals of the team event to lead Japan past Sweden.

Doubles Partners

Niwa / Matsudaira

Niwa and Kenta Matsudaira were doubles partners from 2008 to 2015. Their playstyle is characterized by both players' unorthodox playstyles, with Niwa frequently incorporating "chiquita" banana flicks and Matsudaira frequently using his tomahawk service. Both players frequently use their backhand to win points. The pair first competed in the international scene at the 2008 Cetniewo Polish Youth Open. In 2012, they defeated the Chinese pairing of Wang/Zhou to secure their first men's doubles titles in the ITTF world tour scene. The pair won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Table Tennis Championships. Niwa and Matsudaira have not partnered on the international scene since 2015.

Niwa / Yoshimura

Niwa and

have been frequent doubles partners starting in 2016. The pairing first rose to prominence at the 2016 Summer Olympics Men's Team Event where the pair contributed to Japan's silver medal. At the 2017 Asian Championships in Wuxi, the pair reached the semifinals before losing to Fan Zhendong/Lin Gaoyuan. At the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships Men's Doubles event, the pair won a joint bronze medal. The following month, at the 2017 World Tour Japan Open, Niwa/Yoshimura reached the finals before losing to Ma Long/Xu Xin in three straight games.

Niwa / Mizutani

Koki Niwa and Jun Mizutani are expected to play doubles in the team event (alongside Tomokazu Harimoto as the ace player) at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Mizutani noted the uniqueness of having a doubles pair with two left-handed players and stated that their objective was to make the match as un-normal as possible.

Rivalries

Niwa vs. Chen Chien An

Niwa and Chen have met 9 times in the international scene, with Niwa leading 5-4. Their first encounter was at the 2009 Harmony China Open where Niwa won 4 games to 1. They met another two times at the 2011 Harmony China Open where Chen defeated Niwa in the U21 Men's singles final, and Niwa defeated Chen in the Men's singles main bracket. In their most recent encounter, Chen won 4 games to 2 over Niwa at the 2017 Asian Cup main tournament bracket, and Niwa won 3 games to 0 in the group stage.

Niwa vs. Kim Min-seok

Niwa and Kim have met 10 times with Niwa leading 6-4. Their first encounter was at the 2009 Korea Open U21 Men's singles event where Niwa won in full games. Niwa and Kim have met 3 times in the semi-final stages of U21 pro tour events. At the 2011 Pro Tour Germany Open U21 Men's singles final, Niwa won in full games over Kim. Their most recent encounter was in 2015 where Niwa won 4 games to 1 at the 2015 World Tour China Open.

Career statistics

ITTF Major tournament performance timeline

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (S) Singles Tournament; (D) Doubles Tournament; (MD) Mixed Doubles Tournament; (T) Team Tournament.

ITTF Career Singles Finals: 1

ITTF Career Doubles Finals: 10

ITTF Junior & U21 Singles Titles: 8

ITTF Junior & U21 Doubles Titles: 5

Record against top-10 players

Niwa's match record against those who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who have been No. 1 in bold: *

: 1–5 *

: 0–6 *

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 20 ...

: 0–2 * Lin Gaoyuan: 2–3 * Xu Xin: 2–1 * Ma Long: 1–6 *

Wong Chun Ting Wong Chun-ting (; born 7 September 1991) is a Hong Kong table tennis player. He won his first doubles title on the ITTF World Tour in 2012 and won another three doubles titles in 2014. In 2015, he won a bronze medal in mixed doubles event with ...

: 1–1 * Simon Gauzy: 2–1 * Kenta Matsudaira: 2–2 *

: 1–1 * Tomokazu Harimoto: 2–2 * Lee Sang-su: 4–1 *

Jung Young-sik Jeoung Young-sik (also Jeong or Jung, ko, 정영식, born 20 January 1992) is a South Korean 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 ...

: 3–1 * Joo Sae-hyuk: 0–1 * Marcos Freitas: 3–2 *

Chuang Chih-yuan Chuang Chih-yuan (; born 2 April 1981) is a Taiwanese table tennis player. He won the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in 2002 and doubles title at the 2013 World Table Tennis Championships. He participated in the Summer Olympics five times, making ...

: 0–7 *

Fang Bo Fang Bo (; born November 6, 1992) is a Chinese male table tennis player. In 2002, Fang Bo became a member of the Shandong Luneng table tennis club. In 2009, he joined the China national table tennis first team. In the same year December 2009, h ...

: 0–1 * Vladimir Samsonov: 0–1 *

: 1–2 *

Gao Ning Gao Ning (; born 11 October 1982) is a retired Chinese-born Singaporean table tennis player. He is considered Singapore's best male player with a world ranking of 34 as of August 2016. He was first in men's singles at the 2007 Commonwealth Tabl ...

: 3–1 * Yan An: 1–3

Wins over top 10 players

References

External links

*
Koki Niwa at Table Tennis Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niwa, Koki 1994 births Living people Japanese male table tennis players Asian Games medalists in table tennis Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players of Japan Olympic medalists in table tennis Olympic silver medalists for Japan Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Table tennis players at the 2010 Asian Games Table tennis players at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Sportspeople from Hokkaido People from Tomakomai, Hokkaido Universiade medalists in table tennis World Table Tennis Championships medalists Universiade silver medalists for Japan Universiade bronze medalists for Japan Kinoshita Meister Tokyo players Ryukyu Asteeda players Youth Olympic gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people