Will Japan Beat China in 2020?：Table Tennis

I'm Nathan Shiga and here to pilot your net-tour of Japan. Today, I take up for the first time minor sports in Japan that normally draw less attention - table tennis.

Some of you might recall that back in 1950-60 Japan reigned the world in table tennis with such big names as Ogimura, Tanaka, Kono, Hasegawa, etc. dominating international competitions. Then China took over in late 1060-70 and ever since China has monopolized the sport. Today, Chinese players rank 1-5 in the world ranking, both male and female, and it seems the trend is here to stay for some time.

Just for the record, folks, Japan is gradually but steadily closing up on China to prelude a major upset in the Tokyo Olympiad in 2020. And here's why.

The All-Japan Table Tennis Championships this year was a stage of some upsets of juniors beating grownups. A six-grader Tomokazu Hamimoto advanced to the 4th round in men's singlels; Miu Hirano and Mima Ito, both age 15 and raking 10's, met in women's singles quarter final. Both girls represent Japan's top doubles pair.

Ai Fukuhara, age 24,  was herself a table tennis prodigy and had at age 15 advanced to the 4th round in the Olympiad in Athens. So, come to think of it, Fukuhara was the can opener who helped promote the popularity of table tennis and thus awaken the minds of table tennis coaches to the need for an intensive training program.

Since the fall of 2001, the Japan Table Tennis Association launched a comprehensive training project, in which a national team, Hopes National Team,  was organized to train gifted players under age 12. The reigning men's singles champion Jun Mizutani is its 1st-generation graduate. In fact, Hirano and Ito were also members.

Masahiro Maehara, who initiated the Hopes National Team, comments:

"Not every gifted child can make a national team. It all depends on how to train them. Whatever taught while young will go a long way."

It's high time Japan recovered the title she deserves.

Source: Nikkei