Tomokazu Harimoto

Tomokazu Harimoto (張本 智和, Harimoto Tomokazu, born June 27, 2003) is a Japanese table tennis player. In 2018, He won the 2018 World Junior Singles and Team Title at the ITTF 2018 World Junior Championship for Japan. The previous players to win the title were Kenta Matsudaira, Koki Niwa, and Jun Mizutani (Teams).

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) June 27, 2003
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan[1]
Playing styleRight-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)Tomokazu Harimoto ALC, Butterfly Dignics 05 (Forehand) Tenergy 05 (Backhand)
Highest ranking3 (January 2019)[2]
Current ranking4 (April 2020)
ClubKinoshita Meister Tokyo
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight140 lb (64 kg)
Medal record
Representing  Japan
Youth Olympic Games
2018 Buenos AiresSingles
2018 Buenos AiresMixed Team
World Cup
2018 LondonTeam
2019 ChengduSingles
ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
2018 IncheonSingles
Asian Championships
2017 WuxiTeam
World Junior Championships
2016 Cape TownSingles
2016 Cape TownTeam
2016 Cape TownDoubles
Asian Junior Championships
2016 BangkokTeam
2016 BangkokSingles

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.[3] 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.[4]

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 (Chinese: 张宇; pinyin: Zhāng Yǔ) and mother Zhang Ling (Chinese: 张凌; 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.[5]

Harimoto began playing table tennis at the age of two.[6] 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.[7]

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.

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).[8]
  • August 2017: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour men's singles title (14 years, 61 days).[3]
  • January 2018: Youngest ever winner of the men's singles title at the Japanese National Championships (14 years, 207 days).[9]
  • December 2018: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour Grand Finals men's singles title (15 years, 172 days).[10]

Career

ITTF Major tournament performance timeline
Key
W F SF QF #R RR

(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.

Tournament 2017 2018 2019
World Cup S QF
T F
World Championships S QF
T QF
D
MD
World Tour Grand Finals S QF W
D QF
Olympic Games S
T

Senior career highlights, as of April 2018:[11]

ITTF Career Singles Finals: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)
Result Date Tournament Tier Opponent Score
Runner-Up February, 2017 2017 ITTF World Tour India Open World Tour Dimitrij Ovtcharov 6-11, 8-11, 4-11, 12-14
Win August, 2017 Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Czech Open World Tour Timo Boll 11-3, 4-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9
Win June, 2018 Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Lion Japan Open World Tour Zhang Jike 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11
Win December, 2018 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals World Tour Grand Finals Lin Gaoyuan 11-4, 13-15, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9
Runner-Up June, 2019 2019 ITTF World Tour Hong Kong Open World Tour Lin Gaoyuan 3-11, 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 7-11
Win August, 2019 2019 ITTF World Tour Bulgaria Open World Tour Zhao Zihao 11-6, 12-14, 11-5, 13-11, 13-15, 11-4
Runner-Up December, 2019 2019 ITTF World Cup World Cup Fan Zhendong 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 8-11, 2-11, 7-11
Win February, 2020 2020 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open World Tour Yukiya Uda 7-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-6, 11-9

ITTF Career Doubles Finals: 2
Result Date Tournament Tier Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up June, 2017 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open World Tour Yuto Kizukuri Jin Ueda

Maharu Yoshimura

 10-12, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11
Runner-up November, 2017 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open World Tour Platinum Yuto Kizukuri Jung Young-sik

Lee Sang-su

 11-8, 11-3, 5-11, 14-16, 6-11

Singles

Men's doubles

Team events

Awards

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 7 May 2018. * indicates current world rank no. 1.

Player Ranking Record Win% Last match
Fan Zhendong* 1 1–2 33% Lost (1-4) at 2019 ITTF Asia Cup
Timo Boll 1 1–2 33% Lost (11-9, 3-11, 11-13, 5-11, 9-11) at 2018 ITTF Men's World Cup
Dimitrij Ovtcharov 1 0-2 0% Lost (7-11, 13-11, 8-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11) at 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Xu Xin 1 0-4 0% Lost (11-6, 15-17, 9-11, 5-11, 12-10, 9-11) at 2018 ITTF Austrian Open
Ma Long 1 1-2 33% Lost (1-3) at 2019 Asia Cup
Zhang Jike 1 2-0 100% Won (4-3) at 2018 ITTF Japan Open
Vladimir Samsonov 1 4-0 100% Won (4-3) at 2018 ITTF Czech Open
Lin Gaoyuan 2 1-2 33% Lost at 2019 ITTF China Open
Chuang Chih-yuan 3 3-1 75% Won (4-11, 11-7, 14-12, 11-8) at 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships
Jun Mizutani 4 2-0 100% Won (11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7) at 2018 ITTF Austrian Open
Koki Niwa 5 2-2 50% Lost (2-4) at 2019 Asian Cup
Hugo Calderano 6 2-1 66% Won (4-0) at 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Wong Chun Ting 6 2-1 66% Won (11-3, 11-8, 11-9) at 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships
Lee sang-su 6 1-1 50% Won (4-2) at 2018 ITTF Japan Open
Marcos Freitas 7 0-2 0% Lost (3-4) at 2018 ITTF Czech Open
Jung Young-sik 7 1-1 50% Won (4-2) at 2018 World Tour Platinum Korea Open
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
Liang Jingkun 9 1-2 33% Won (4-0) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Qatar Open
Jang Woojin 10 2-1 66% Won (4-1) at 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals

References
  1. "Tomokazu Harimoto: 12-Year-Old Shakes Up The World". Butterfly Online. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. "ITTF Player Profile / Tomokazu Harimoto". ITTF. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  3. "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.
  4. "Amazing form maintained, Tomokazu Harimoto wins in Incheon". International Table Tennis Federation. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  5. 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.
  6. "【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.
  7. "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". 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  8. "Boys' Singles success means Tomokazu Harimoto youngest ever champion". ITTF. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  9. "14-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto becomes youngest national table tennis singles champion". The Japan Times Online. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  10. "Amazing form maintained, Tomokazu Harimoto wins in Incheon". ITTF. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  11. "ITTF Player Matches / Tomokazu Harimoto". ITTF. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  12. "Tomokazu Harimoto chosen as ITTF's Breakthrough Star award recipient". The Japan Times Online. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
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