Thread about Japanese Players

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

We had this weekend the 第60回全日本社会人卓球選手権大会

百十四銀行 第60回全日本社会人卓球選手権大会　閉幕！

2026年10月30日（金）から香川県／あなぶきアリーナ香川（香川県立アリーナ）で開催していた「百十四銀行 第60回全日本社会人卓球選手権大会」が閉幕した。 男子シングルスは松下大星（日の出医療福祉グループ）、女子シング […]

jtta.or.jp

ie the Zennihon "shakaijin" which means only adults are allowed except (middle/high school & uni etc) students. [btw The Zennihon university student was also this weekend]

This tournament is a bit strange, is there such a category anywhere else in the world ?
In practice its like a B national championships as the top players snob it (Harimoto; Matsushima; Mizutani....] but still many pro , T-leaguers; Nihon-Leaguers; and semi pro like corporate team players attend it; and if you look at the list of recent winners its only famous players, and it even awards a ticket to the winner to participate in JNT selection tournaments.

Single winner : (Men) MATSUSHITA Taisei and (Women) NAGAO Akiko

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Last week there was the veteran championships called (JTTA) MASTERS, not many former pros participate.the level is much lower than the Shakaijin.

in the strong 30+ category, the final opposed 2 YouTubers, Tokkun (Tokushima) to Yuji (Sakurai) 3-1
Tokkun is a former doubles Shakaijin champion (!!) and kept his title from last year. Amazingly I saw Tokkun defeat in doubles in the Tokyo qualification tournament for Zennihon the Yoshimura bros; only to fail to qualify in the next decisive match to a uni team.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

If you happen to catch this, Japan XD in SF of Youth Olympic Games ... Miku Matsushima / Ryuusei Kawakami against Team Taiwan. Japan already beat the top seed China (Li Hechen/Yao Ruixuan) in the QF.

[Edit] Japan wins 3-1 and will face Hong Kong (Li Ki Ho/Su Tsz Tung) in the Finals scheduled for 11/3 18:30 local time Dakar, Senegal

https://www.olympics.com/en/dakar-2026/videos/women-s-and-men-s-singles-preliminary-stage-mixed-doubles-semifinals-2-table-tennis-dakar-2026-summer-youth-olympic-games

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Miku Matsushima beat a very good Thai player, Vijitviriyagul Kulapassr, 4-2 to advance to the QF of Youth Olympic Games. Hong Kong's Su Tsz Tong also advances. Taiwan's Chen Minhsin beat China's Yao Ruixuan to advance to the quarters as well.

 

[Catenaccio]

Kawakami Ryusei/Matsushima Misora pair win gold medal, defeating a Chinese/Hong Kong pair to achieve Japan's first gold medal in 16 years

 

[Rao01]

I haven't read through this entire thread, but if there was one Japanese player I have been disappointed recently is Hiroto Shinozuka. I thought he had potential, but never performed.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

It's a double gold for Kawakami: XD and MS. Miku will have to settle for the XD gold. In fairness, she's 13 years old, and she took Hong Kong's 17 year old top junior, Su Tsz Tung to the decider in a bo7. The two have played twice before with both times Su winning in the decider in a bo5. Congratulations to both of the Japanese juniors.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

With Hina beating Miwa in the SF, she solidly retains her standing as the 2nd highest ranked Japanese woman even as her 1000 pts expire from last year's WTT Champions Frankfurt title. Had she lost, Hina and Hitomi would have been tied in ranking points. Satsuki remains in 4th place but closes the gap with Hitomi. I think it's really understated how well Satsuki plays against anti and especially against choppers. I know people will say well she's on the same T-League team as Hitomi, but so isn't Yokoi who still has lots of trouble against Sato and Hashimoto.

 

[Catenaccio]

Itagaki represents Germany, but I posted here for my convenience. This is for @Brs. I am surprised that Itagaki uses Korbel despite having short pips on her backhand.

World Youth U15 Champion Koharu Itagaki’s Backhand Technique

 

[Catenaccio]

First time the top two spots are occupied by Japanese players. It might not last long as Harimoto has 1,500 points that will expire on 14 December 2026.

 

[NextLevel]

First time the top two spots are occupied by Japanese players. It might not last long as Harimoto has 1,500 points that will expire on 14 December 2026.

View attachment 44139

He has a good chance of winning WTT finals. Let's see how it goes.