Tomokazu Harimoto
Tomokazu Harimoto (張本 智和, Harimoto Tomokazu, born 27 June 2003) 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.
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.jpg.webp) Harimoto at the 2018 Youth Olympics Final | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Chinese (before 2014) Japanese (after 2014) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Zhang Zhihe (張智和) 27 June 2003 Sendai, Miyagi, Japan[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing style | Right-handed, shakehand grip | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equipment(s) | Butterfly Harimoto Tomokazu Innerforce ALC, Butterfly Dignics 05 (Forehand) Dignics 05 (Backhand) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | 2 (22 Nov 2022)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | 3 (4 April 2023)[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Ryukyu Asteeda,[4] TTC Neu-Ulm[5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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.[6] 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.[7]
Personal life
Harimoto was born as Zhang Zhihe (simplified Chinese: 张智和; traditional Chinese: 張智和; pinyin: Zhāng Zhìhé) in Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture. His father Zhang Yu (simplified Chinese: 张宇; traditional Chinese: 張宇; pinyin: Zhāng Yǔ) and mother Zhang Ling (simplified Chinese: 张凌; traditional Chinese: 張凌; pinyin: Zhāng Líng) 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.[8] His younger sister Miwa Harimoto (張本 美和, Harimoto Miwa, born 16 June 2008) is also a table tennis player competing in the U-18 junior table tennis circuit.[9][10]
Harimoto began playing table tennis at the age of two.[11] He became a naturalized citizen of Japan in 2014 and legally changed his surname to Harimoto. After graduating from East Miyagi Elementary School in 2016, he relocated to Tokyo to join the JOC Elite Academy. His pastimes include baseball and reading.[12]
In April 2022, Harimoto announced he will be attending Waseda University School of Human Sciences after graduating from Nihon University Senior High School.[13]
Career
Junior career
Harimoto first won the All-Japan Table Tennis Championships Juniors title in 2010 as a first grader. He would continue to win the tournament for all 6 years of his elementary school years. In 2015, he was chosen to represent Japan at the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in France, becoming the youngest Japanese player to be chosen. However, due to the November 2015 Paris attacks, Harimoto was not able to participate in the tournament.
Aged 12 years and 355 days, Harimoto defeated seasoned professionals Ho Kwan Kit, Hugo Calderano, and teammate Kohei Sambe to win the 2016 U-21 Japan Open title. With the win, he became the youngest winner ITTF World Tour under-21 men's singles title.[1] Later that year, Harimoto won gold medals in the boys' singles and teams events at the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Cape Town, South Africa. This win was historic, as Harimoto became the youngest winner of the World Junior Championships aged 13 years and 163 days. Harimoto achieved an Under-21 ranking of No. 10 in the world in December 2016.
2017
Harimoto began the year in February at the recently revamped India Open. He reached the finals with victories over Álvaro Robles, Sakai Asuka, Robert Gardos, and local favorite Sharath Kamal, before losing to defending champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov in straight sets.
2018
In June of 2018, Harimoto shocked the world by winning first place in the ITTF World Tour Japan Open, after beating Olympic champions Ma Long in the semifinal and Zhang Jike in the final.[14] He was just short of 15 years old when he won the title. Later in the year, Harimoto continued to win the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Incheon, South Korea, where he defeated Lin Gaoyuan 4-1 in the final and became the youngest-ever winner of the event. His outstanding performance in 2018 also helped him reach No.3 in the ITTF world ranking, his career best.
2020
Harimoto won third place at the 2020 World Cup. Harimoto led 3–1 against Ma Long in the semi-finals, but lost 4–3 after Ma Long called time-out in the fifth game and switched to a high-toss serve that Harimoto had trouble reading.[15]
2021
In March, Harimoto played in WTT Doha. He was upset in the semi-finals by Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the WTT Contender event, but won the champion for the WTT Star Contender event.[16]
In June, teammate Jun Mizutani said that Harimoto's mental game was steadily improving in 2021 and better than the previous year. Mizutani also positively noted that Harimoto was reverting to his more aggressive style of play in 2021.[17]
Harimoto was upset by Darko Jorgic in the round of 16 of the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.[18] Originally slated to be the ace player in the team event, Harimoto ended up playing in doubles in Japan's 3–1 victory against Sweden in the quarter-finals.[19] In the semi-finals, Harimoto won both his matches as the ace player against Germany, but Germany still won 3–2.[20]
Records
- June 2016: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour under-21 men's singles title (12 years, 355 days).[1]
- December 2016: Youngest ever winner of the boys' singles title at the World Junior Championships (13 years, 163 days).[21]
- August 2017: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour men's singles title (14 years, 61 days).[6]
- January 2018: Youngest ever winner of the men's singles title at the Japanese National Championships (14 years, 207 days).[22]
- December 2018: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour Grand Finals men's singles title (15 years, 172 days).[23]
Awards
- ITTF Star Awards: Breakthrough Star (2017)[24]
Major tournament performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | |
(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1;
(S) singles event; (MD) men's doubles event; (XD) mixed doubles event; (T) team event.
| Tournament | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | S | QF | 4R | 2R | ||||
| MD | 3R | 3R | ||||||
| XD | F | |||||||
| T | QF | SF | ||||||
| Olympic Games | S | 4R | ||||||
| T | SF-B | |||||||
| WTT Cup Finals | S | F | F | |||||
| World Cup | S | QF | F | SF-B | ||||
| T | F | SF | ||||||
| World Tour Grand Finals | S | QF | W | QF | 1R | |||
| MD | QF | |||||||
| Year-end ranking | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| 17 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | |||
Senior career highlights, as of November 2022[25]
ITTF/WTT career finals
Singles finals: 13 (8 titles, 5 runner-ups)
| Result | Date | Tournament | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | February 2017 | ITTF World Tour, India Open |  Dimitrij Ovtcharov |
0–4 (6–11, 8–11, 4–11, 12–14) |
| Win | August 2017 | ITTF World Tour, Czech Open | Timo Boll |
4–2 (11–3, 4–11, 8–11, 11–9, 11–6, 11–9) |
| Win | June 2018 | ITTF World Tour, Japan Open |  Zhang Jike |
4–3 (9–11, 8–11, 11–9, 11–4, 10–12, 11–7, 13–11) |
| Win | December 2018 | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | Lin Gaoyuan |
4–1 (11–4, 13–15, 11–9, 11–9, 11–9) |
| Runner-up | June 2019 | ITTF World Tour, Hong Kong Open | Lin Gaoyuan |
2–4 (3–11, 11–7, 11–8, 6–11, 9–11, 7–11) |
| Win | August 2019 | ITTF World Tour, Bulgaria Open | Zhao Zihao |
4–2 (11–6, 12–14, 11–5, 13–11, 13–15, 11–4) |
| Runner-up | December 2019 | World Cup | Fan Zhendong |
2–4 (11–9, 4–11, 11–6, 8–11, 2–11, 7–11) |
| Win | February 2020 | ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open |  Yukiya Uda |
4–1 (7–11, 11–8, 11–2, 11–6, 11–9) |
| Win | March 2021 | WTT Star Contender Doha | Ruwen Filus |
4–2 (11–9, 11–9, 12–14, 11–5, 7–11, 11–8) |
| Runner-up | December 2021 | WTT Cup Finals | Fan Zhendong |
1–4 (8–11, 11–9, 9–11, 7–11, 5–11) |
| Win | July 2022 | WTT Champions European Summer Series | Lin Gaoyuan |
4–3 (3–11, 7–11, 12–14, 11–6, 11–6, 13–11, 11–9) |
| Runner-up | October 2022 | WTT Cup Finals | Wang Chuqin |
2–4 (11–8, 8–11, 9–11, 8–11, 11–8, 7–11) |
| Win | November 2022 | Asian Cup |  Lim Jong-hoon |
4–1 (11–9, 7–11, 11–8, 12–10, 11–2) |
Men's doubles finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)
| Result | Date | Tournament | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | June 2017 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, China Open |
Yuto Kizukuri |
Jin Ueda Maharu Yoshimura |
1–3 (10–12, 11–9, 8–11, 9–11) |
| Runner-up | November 2017 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, German Open |
Yuto Kizukuri |
Jung Young-sik Lee Sang-su |
2–3 (11–8, 11–3, 5–11, 14–16, 6–11) |
| Win | August 2022 | WTT Contender Tunis | Yuto Kizukuri |
Zhao Zihao Xue Fei |
3–2 (11–4, 8–11, 7–11, 11–9, 11–6) |
Mixed doubles finals: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)
| Result | Date | Tournament | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | June 2019 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open |
Hina Hayata |
Xu Xin Zhu Yuling |
0–3 (10–12, 6–11, 5–11) |
| Win | November 2019 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, Austrian Open |
Hina Hayata |
Lin Gaoyuan Zhu Yuling |
3–1 (11–5, 4–11, 11–5, 11–6) |
| Runner-up | November 2021 | World Championships | Hina Hayata |
Wang Chuqin Sun Yingsha |
0–3 (2–11, 5–11, 8–11) |
| Win | June 2022 | WTT Contender Zagreb | Hina Hayata |
 Wong Chun Ting Doo Hoi Kem |
3–0 (11–7, 11–5, 11–5) |
| Runner-up | July 2022 | WTT Star Contender European Summer Series |
Hina Hayata |
Wang Chuqin Wang Manyu |
2–3 (11–9, 11–6, 7–11, 7–11, 9–11) |
| Win | August 2022 | WTT Contender Tunis | Miwa Harimoto |
 Feng Yi-hsin Chen Szu-yu |
3–2 (9–11, 11–8, 9–11, 12–10, 11–6) |
Record against top-10 players
Harimoto's singles match record against those who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who have been No. 1 in bold:
Statistics correct as of 9 October 2022. * indicates current world rank no. 1.
| Player | Ranking | Record | Win% | Last match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fan Zhendong* |
1 | 2–5 | 29% | Won (3–2) at 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships |
| Timo Boll |
1 | 1–2 | 33% | Lost (1–4) at 2018 ITTF Men's World Cup |
| Dimitrij Ovtcharov |
1 | 4–4 | 50% | Won (3–1) at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games |
| Xu Xin |
1 | 0–8 | 0% | Lost (3–4) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals |
| Ma Long |
1 | 2–4 | 33% | Lost (3–4) at 2020 ITTF Men's World Cup |
| Zhang Jike |
1 | 2–0 | 100% | Won (4–3) at 2018 ITTF Japan Open |
 Vladimir Samsonov |
1 | 5–0 | 100% | Won (4–1) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open |
| Lin Gaoyuan |
2 | 3–2 | 60% | Won (4–3) at 2022 WTT Champions, Budapest |
| Chuang Chih-yuan |
3 | 3–3 | 50% | Won (3–0) at 2021 WTT Contender, Doha |
| Liang Jingkun |
3 | 1–3 | 25% | Lost (2–4) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open |
 Hugo Calderano |
3 | 4–1 | 80% | Won (4–1) at 2021 WTT Cup Finals, Singapore |
| Wang Chuqin |
3 | 2–5 | 29% | Lost (2–4) at 2022 WTT Cup Finals |
| Jun Mizutani |
4 | 3–0 | 100% | Won (4–1) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Hong Kong Open |
 Truls Möregårdh |
4 | 0–1 | 0% | Lost (1–3) at 2018 Summer Youth Olympics |
| Koki Niwa |
5 | 4–1 | 80% | Won (4–3) at 2019 ITTF Men's World Cup |
| Lin Yun-ju |
5 | 2–0 | 100% | Won (3–1) at 2018 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup |
 Darko Jorgic |
6 | 2–1 | 66% | Lost (3–4) at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games |
| Lee Sang-su |
6 | 3–1 | 75% | Won (4–2) at 2021 WTT Contender, Doha |
| Wong Chun Ting |
6 | 7–2 | 78% | Won (3–0) at 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships |
 Marcos Freitas |
7 | 3–2 | 60% | Won (3–1) at 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships |
| Mattias Falck |
7 | 1-2 | 33% | Lost (1-3) at 2022 WTT Champions, Macao |
| Jung Young-sik |
7 | 3–1 | 75% | Won (3–0) at 2021 WTT Star Contender, Doha |
| Kenta Matsudaira |
9 | 0–1 | 0% | Lost (2–4) at 2018 ITTF World Tour Bulgarian Open |
 Gao Ning |
9 | 1–0 | 100% | Won (3–0) at 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships |
| Dang Qiu |
9 | 1-0 | 100% | Won (3-0) at 2022 WTT Champions, Budapest |
| Jang Woo-jin |
9 | 4–2 | 66% | Won (3–1) at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games |
 Quadri Aruna |
10 | 3-1 | 75% | Lost (0-3) at 2023 WTT Smash, Singapore |
References
- "Tomokazu Harimoto: 12-Year-Old Shakes Up The World". Butterfly Online. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking Men's Singles 2022 Week #47". ittf.com. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- "Rankings 2023 Week #14". ittf.com. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- "Ryukyu Asteeda". Ryukyu Asteeda. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- "TTC Neu-Ulm-1.Tischtennis Bundesliga". TTC Neu-Ulm. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- "Record breaker, Tomokazu Harimoto, youngest .He also won ITTF World Tour men's single title , winning the Japan Open title at the age of 15.ever". ITTF. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- "Amazing form maintained, Tomokazu Harimoto wins in Incheon". International Table Tennis Federation. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- 人民網日本語版. "日本の「希望の星」、弱冠13歳で世界選手権ベスト8に入った張本智和とは？―中国紙". Record China (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- "中国教练：张本美和天赋不输哥哥 未来必成大器". sports.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- "Harimoto Miwa". Tabletennis.guide. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- "【卓球】期待の星・張本智和、金のシナリオ！エリートアカデミーで技磨く : スポーツ報知". Archived from the original on 15 November 2016.
- "始動：２０２０を目指して／１ 卓球 東京の頂、新世代の決意". 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- Harimoto Tomokazu [@harimoto__tomokazu_1711] (1 April 2022). "早稲田大学人間科学部（通信教育課程）に入学しました!". Retrieved 9 October 2022 – via Instagram.
- "Japanese Teenagers Defeat Chinese Superstars at the 2018 Japan Open". ittf.com. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- "How Harimoto Built A 3–1 Lead And How Ma Long Came Back at the 2020 World Cup". edgesandnets.com. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- "Confident Tomokazu Harimoto Defeats Ruwen Filus 4–2 To Take WTT Star Contender Title". edgesandnets.com. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- "Jun Mizutani Discusses Olympics, Harimoto, Ito, and More". edgesandnets.com. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- "Full Recap: Darko Jorgic Ekes Out Tomokazu Harimoto 4–3". edgesandnets.com. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- "Olympic Table Tennis Team Quarterfinal Round-Up". edgesandnets.com. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- "Germany and Japan To Face China in Olympic Table Tennis Team Finals". edgesandnets.com. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- "Boys' Singles success means Tomokazu Harimoto youngest ever champion". ITTF. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- "14-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto becomes youngest national table tennis singles champion". The Japan Times. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- "Amazing form maintained, Tomokazu Harimoto wins in Incheon". ITTF. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
- "Tomokazu Harimoto chosen as ITTF's Breakthrough Star award recipient". The Japan Times. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- "Player profile". ITTF. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
External links
- Tomokazu Harimoto at ITTF
- Tomokazu Harimoto at Olympedia
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