January 30, 2023 (by Steve Hopkins)



The Japanese Championships concluded on Sunday – the event is called the All Japan Table Tennis Championships and this year it was held from January 23-29 in Osaka Japan.

The top honors this year went to Togami Shunsuke.  Togami also won the event last year.  Togami has been an inconsistent player on the international stage.  Currently World No. 48, perhaps this year will be the year that he makes a big jump in the rankings.  For decades Japan has had one of the best ranked teams in the world because of strong depth – but in recent years, only Harimoto has managed to maintain a World Ranking in the Top 10.  Perhaps the 21 year old (2 time defending Japanese Champion) will be the teammate Harimoto needs.

In the Final on Sunday, Togami Shunsuke and World No. 4 Tomokazu Harimoto were evenly matched through 4 games.  Togami won the first game 11-8.  Harimoto was down 8-10 in the second and managed consecutive edges to tie the score – before evening the match with a 12-10 win.  The match may have been decided in the third, when the two fought a 17-15 marathon that went to Togami.  Togami then built an early lead in Game 4 and went up 3-1.  The two split the final two games – with Harimoto pulling out the fifth game to pull closer, but Togami closing out the match in the sixth for a 4-2 win and a second consecutive championship.

In Women’s Singles, Hayata Hina won her second championship (she won in 2020 as well.  Harimoto and Masataka won Men’s Doubles, Mima Ito and Hayata Hina teamed up to win Women’s Doubles, and Harimoto and Hina teamed up to win Mixed Doubles.

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Source: Butterfly Online | Butterfly Table Tennis