Tomokazu Harimoto

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Tomokazu Harimoto
Harimoto at the 2018 Youth Olympics Final
Personal information
NationalityChinese (before 2014)
Japanese (after 2014)
BornZhang Zhihe (張智和)
(2003-06-27) 27 June 2003 (age 20)
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan[1]
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Weight64 kg (141 lb)[2]
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)Butterfly Harimoto Tomokazu Innerforce ALC, Butterfly Dignics 05 (Forehand) Dignics 05 (Backhand)[3]
Highest ranking2 (22 November 2022)[4]
Current ranking9 (20 February 2024)[5]
ClubRyukyu Asteeda (T.League)[6]
TTC Neu-Ulm (TTCLM)[7]
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  Japan
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 1
World Championships 0 2 1
World Cup 0 2 1
Total 0 4 3
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Team
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2021 Houston Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2023 Durban Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Chengdu Team
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2018 London Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Chengdu Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Chengdu Mixed team
WTT Cup Finals
Silver medal – second place 2021 Singapore Singles
Silver medal – second place 2022 Xinxiang Singles
ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Gold medal – first place 2018 Incheon Singles
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Wuxi Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Yogyakarta Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Yogyakarta Team
Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 2022 Bangkok Singles
Summer Youth Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Singles
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Mixed team
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Cape Town Singles
Gold medal – first place 2016 Cape Town Team
Silver medal – second place 2016 Cape Town Doubles
Asian Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Bangkok Team
Silver medal – second place 2016 Bangkok Singles

Tomokazu Harimoto (張本 智和, Harimoto Tomokazu, born 27 June 2003) is a Japanese professional table tennis player who is currently world rank number 4 in ITTF. 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.[8] 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.[9]

Personal life[edit]

Harimoto was born as Zhang Zhihe[a] in Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture. His father Yuu Harimoto[b] and mother Zhang Ling[c] 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.[10] Tomokazu's younger sister Miwa Harimoto[d] is also a table tennis player competing in the U-18 junior table tennis circuit.[11][12]

Harimoto began playing table tennis at the age of two.[13] 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.[14]

In April 2022, Harimoto announced he will be attending Waseda University School of Human Sciences after graduating from Nihon University Senior High School.[15]

Career[edit]

Junior career[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.[16] 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[edit]

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.[17]

2021[edit]

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.[18]

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.[19]

Harimoto was upset by Darko Jorgic in the round of 16 of the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.[20] 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.[21] In the semi-finals, Harimoto won both his matches as the ace player against Germany, but Germany still won 3–2.[22]

Records[edit]

  • 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).[23]
  • August 2017: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour men's singles title (14 years, 61 days).[8]
  • January 2018: Youngest ever winner of the men's singles title at the Japanese National Championships (14 years, 207 days).[24]
  • December 2018: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour Grand Finals men's singles title (15 years, 172 days).[25]

Awards[edit]

Major tournament performance timeline[edit]

Key
W F SF QF #R

(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist, rank added if bronze medal match played; (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 QF
MD 3R 3R 1R
XD F F
T QF SF
Olympic Games S 4R
T SF3
WTT Cup Finals S F F QF
World Cup S QF F SF3
T F SF 3rd
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 11

Senior career highlights, as of 26 May 2023[27]

ITTF/WTT career finals[edit]

Singles: 14 (8 titles, 6 runners-up)[edit]

Result Year Tournament Opponent Score Ref
Runner-up 2017 ITTF World Tour, India Open Germany Dimitrij Ovtcharov 0–4 [28]
Winner 2017 ITTF World Tour, Czech Open Germany Timo Boll 4–2 [29]
Winner 2018 ITTF World Tour, Japan Open China Zhang Jike 4–3 [30]
Winner 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals China Lin Gaoyuan 4–1 [31]
Runner-up 2019 ITTF World Tour, Hong Kong Open China Lin Gaoyuan 2–4 [32]
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour, Bulgaria Open China Zhao Zihao 4–2 [33]
Runner-up 2019 World Cup China Fan Zhendong 2–4 [34]
Winner 2020 ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open Japan Yukiya Uda 4–1 [35]
Winner 2021 WTT Star Contender Doha Germany Ruwen Filus 4–2 [36]
Runner-up 2021 WTT Cup Finals China Fan Zhendong 1–4 [37]
Winner 2022 WTT Champions European Summer Series China Lin Gaoyuan 4–3 [38]
Runner-up 2022 WTT Cup Finals China Wang Chuqin 2–4 [39]
Winner 2022 Asian Cup South Korea Lim Jong-hoon 4–1 [40]
Runner-up 2024 WTT Contender Doha Germany Timo Boll 3–4 [41]

Men's doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)[edit]

Result Year Tournament Partner Opponents Score Ref
Runner-up 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum, China Open Yuto Kizukuri Japan Jin Ueda / Maharu Yoshimura 1–3 [42]
Runner-up 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum, German Open Yuto Kizukuri South Korea Jung Young-sik / Lee Sang-su 2–3 [43]
Winner 2022 WTT Contender Tunis Yuto Kizukuri China Zhao Zihao / Xue Fei 3–2 [44]

Mixed doubles: 10 (4 titles, 6 runners-up)[edit]

Result Year Tournament Partner Opponents Score Ref
Runner-up 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open Hina Hayata China Xu Xin / Zhu Yuling 0–3 [45]
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum, Austrian Open Hina Hayata China Lin Gaoyuan / Zhu Yuling 3–1 [46]
Runner-up 2021 World Championships Hina Hayata China Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha 0–3 [47]
Winner 2022 WTT Contender Zagreb Hina Hayata Hong Kong Wong Chun Ting / Doo Hoi Kem 3–0 [48]
Runner-up 2022 WTT Star Contender European Summer Series Hina Hayata China Wang Chuqin / Wang Manyu 2–3 [49]
Winner 2022 WTT Contender Tunis Miwa Harimoto Chinese Taipei Feng Yi-hsin / Chen Szu-yu 3–2 [50]
Runner-up 2023 Singapore Smash Hina Hayata China Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha 1–3 [51]
Runner-up 2023 World Championships Hina Hayata China Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha 0–3 [52]
Runner-up 2023 WTT Star Contender Lanzhou Hina Hayata China Lin Shidong / Kuai Man 2–3 [53]
Winner 2023 WTT Contender Antalya Hina Hayata France Felix Lebrun / Prithika Pavade 3–1 [54]

Record against top-10 players[edit]

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
China Fan Zhendong* 1 2–5 29% Won (3–2) at 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships
Germany Timo Boll 1 1–2 33% Lost (1–4) at 2018 ITTF Men's World Cup
Germany Dimitrij Ovtcharov 1 4–4 50% Won (3–1) at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
China Xu Xin 1 0–8 0% Lost (3–4) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
China Ma Long 1 2–4 33% Lost (3–4) at 2020 ITTF Men's World Cup
China Zhang Jike 1 2–0 100% Won (4–3) at 2018 ITTF Japan Open
Belarus Vladimir Samsonov 1 5–0 100% Won (4–1) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open
China Lin Gaoyuan 2 3–2 60% Won (4–3) at 2022 WTT Champions, Budapest
Chinese Taipei Chuang Chih-yuan 3 3–3 50% Won (3–0) at 2021 WTT Contender, Doha
China Liang Jingkun 3 1–3 25% Lost (2–4) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open
Brazil Hugo Calderano 3 4–1 80% Won (4–1) at 2021 WTT Cup Finals, Singapore
China Wang Chuqin 3 2–5 29% Lost (2–4) at 2022 WTT Cup Finals
Japan Jun Mizutani 4 3–0 100% Won (4–1) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Hong Kong Open
Sweden Truls Möregårdh 4 0–1 0% Lost (1–3) at 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
Japan Koki Niwa 5 4–1 80% Won (4–3) at 2019 ITTF Men's World Cup
Chinese Taipei Lin Yun-ju 5 2–0 100% Won (3–1) at 2018 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup
Slovenia Darko Jorgic 6 2–1 66% Lost (3–4) at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
South Korea Lee Sang-su 6 3–1 75% Won (4–2) at 2021 WTT Contender, Doha
Hong Kong Wong Chun Ting 6 7–2 78% Won (3–0) at 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships
Portugal Marcos Freitas 7 3–2 60% Won (3–1) at 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships
Sweden Mattias Falck 7 1-2 33% Lost (1-3) at 2022 WTT Champions, Macao
South Korea Jung Young-sik 7 3–1 75% Won (3–0) at 2021 WTT Star Contender, Doha
Japan Kenta Matsudaira 9 0–1 0% Lost (2–4) at 2018 ITTF World Tour Bulgarian Open
Singapore Gao Ning 9 1–0 100% Won (3–0) at 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships
Germany Dang Qiu 9 1-0 100% Won (3-0) at 2022 WTT Champions, Budapest
South Korea Jang Woo-jin 9 4–2 66% Won (3–1) at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
Nigeria Quadri Aruna 10 3-1 75% Lost (0-3) at 2023 WTT Smash, Singapore

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ simplified Chinese: 张智和; traditional Chinese: 張智和; pinyin: Zhāng Zhìhé
  2. ^ Japanese: 張本 宇, romanized: Harimoto Yū. Born as Zhang Yu (simplified Chinese: 张宇; traditional Chinese: 張宇; pinyin: Zhāng Yǔ).
  3. ^ simplified Chinese: 张凌; traditional Chinese: 張凌; pinyin: Zhāng Líng
  4. ^ Japanese: 張本 美和, romanized: Harimoto Miwa. Born 16 June 2008 as Zhang Meihe (simplified Chinese: 张美和; traditional Chinese: 張美和; pinyin: Zhāng Měihé).

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Tomokazu Harimoto: 12-Year-Old Shakes Up The World". Butterfly Online. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Tomokazu Harimoto". ttcnu.de (in German). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  3. ^ "HARIMOTO, TOMOKAZU". butterflyonline.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  4. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking Men's Singles 2022 Week #47". ittf.com. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  5. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking". ittf.com. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  6. ^ "張本 智和 Tomokazu Harimoto". tleague.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  7. ^ "TTC Neu-Ulm Team". TTC Neu-Ulm (in German). Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  8. ^ a b "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.
  9. ^ "Amazing form maintained, Tomokazu Harimoto wins in Incheon". International Table Tennis Federation. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Harimoto Miwa". Tabletennis.guide. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  13. ^ "【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.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Japanese Teenagers Defeat Chinese Superstars at the 2018 Japan Open". ittf.com. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ "Confident Tomokazu Harimoto Defeats Ruwen Filus 4–2 To Take WTT Star Contender Title". edgesandnets.com. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Jun Mizutani Discusses Olympics, Harimoto, Ito, and More". edgesandnets.com. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Full Recap: Darko Jorgic Ekes Out Tomokazu Harimoto 4–3". edgesandnets.com. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Olympic Table Tennis Team Quarterfinal Round-Up". edgesandnets.com. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  22. ^ "Germany and Japan To Face China in Olympic Table Tennis Team Finals". edgesandnets.com. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  23. ^ "Boys' Singles success means Tomokazu Harimoto youngest ever champion". ITTF. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  24. ^ "14-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto becomes youngest national table tennis singles champion". The Japan Times. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  25. ^ "Amazing form maintained, Tomokazu Harimoto wins in Incheon". ITTF. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Tomokazu Harimoto chosen as ITTF's Breakthrough Star award recipient". The Japan Times. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  27. ^ "ITTF/WTT Results and Statistics". ITTF. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  28. ^ "2017 World Tour, India Open, New Delhi (IND)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  29. ^ "2017 World Tour, Czech Open, Olomouc (CZE)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  30. ^ "2018 World Tour, Japan Open, Kitakyushu (JPN)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  31. ^ "2018 World Tour Grand Finals, Incheon (KOR)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  32. ^ "2019 ITTF World Tour Hong Kong Open, Hong Kong (HKG)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  33. ^ "2019 ITTF World Tour Bulgarian Open, Panagyurishte (BUL)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  34. ^ "2019 Men's World Cup, Chengdu (CHN)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  35. ^ "2020 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open, Budapest (HUN)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  36. ^ "WTT Star Contender Doha 2021". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  37. ^ "WTT Cup Finals Singapore". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  38. ^ "WTT Champions European Summer Series 2022". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  39. ^ "WTT Cup Finals Xinxiang 2022". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  40. ^ "2022 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup, Bangkok (THA)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  41. ^ "WTT Contender Doha 2024". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  42. ^ "2017 World Tour, China Open, Chengdu (CHN)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  43. ^ "2017 World Tour, German Open, Magdeburg (GER)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  44. ^ "WTT Contender Tunis 2022". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  45. ^ "2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Japan Open, Sapporo (JPN)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  46. ^ "2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Austrian Open, Linz (AUT)". ittf.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  47. ^ "2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  48. ^ "WTT Contender Zagreb 2022". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  49. ^ "WTT Star Contender European Summer Series 2022". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  50. ^ "WTT Contender Tunis 2022". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  51. ^ "Singapore Smash 2023". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  52. ^ "2023 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  53. ^ "WTT Star Contender Lanzhou 2023". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  54. ^ "WTT Contender Antalya 2023". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

External links[edit]

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