Mima Ito
Mima Ito | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Ito in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan[1] | 21 October 2000||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing style | Right-handed, Shakehand grip, Counter Driver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Equipment(s) | Nittaku Acoustic Carbon, Nittaku Moristo SP, Nittaku Fastarc G-1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | 2 (April 2020)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current ranking | 3 (August 2021)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 152 cm (5 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 45 kg (99 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Mima Itō (伊藤 美誠, Itō Mima, born 21 October 2000) is a Japanese table tennis player.[4][5] She won a bronze medal in the Women's Team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics when she was 15 years old. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal with her partner Jun Mizutani in the Mixed Doubles event which made its debut, a bronze medal in the Women's singles, and a silver medal in the Women's Team event.
Often termed as the 'greatest threat' to Chinese table tennis dominance, Ito Mima has the highest winning rate against Chinese players in the history of women's table tennis.[6] She has a winning record against several top Chinese players, including world champion Liu Shiwen, former world no. 1 Zhu Yuling and world junior champion Qian Tianyi. Her signature playing style entails lethal shovel serves, fast short-pimpled backhand punches and flat forehand smashes.[7] In March 2020 at the Qatar Open, Ito Mima recorded a 4–0 win against reigning Olympic champion Ding Ning in the semifinals. Notably, she won the third set 11–0, making it the first time a non-Chinese player won a set 11–0 against a Chinese player.[8]
Career[]
At the age of ten, she became the youngest person to win a match at the Japanese senior table tennis championships[1][9] and the youngest person to win an ITTF Junior Circuit tournament.[10] At eleven she defeated the player ranked 50th in the world at the time.[11] At the age of 14, she moved in June 2015 for the first time into the Top 10 in the world rankings before she was defeated by Han Ying and Chen Meng, reaching World Rank No. 9.
In March 2014, she, together with Miu Hirano, won the doubles' title at German Open. They were both 13 at the time. Thus they became the youngest-ever winners of a doubles competition in the ITTF World Tour.[12][13]
In April 2014, she again won a double title with Miu Hirano, at the ITTF World Tour in Spain.[14]
In December 2014, she won again the doubles with Miu Hirano at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Bangkok against the Singaporean partnership Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu, and at that moment Miu Hirano and Mima Ito became the youngest players winning the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.[15] In March 2015, she won, after beating Shan Xiaona, Che Xiaoxi and Feng Tianwei, the singles' title at German Open against Petrissa Solja.[16] On 5 July 2015, Mima Ito and Miu Hirano won the Women's Doubles title at the ITTF World Tour on the Korea Open in the city of Incheon.[17]
In December 2015, the 2015 ITTF Star Awards, a Breakthrough Star Award presented by TMS International was given out to Japan's Mima Ito.[18] At 14 years and 153 days old when she won the 2015 ITTF World Tour German Open singles title on Sunday 22nd March she became the youngest player ever to win a women’s singles title either on the ITTF World Tour or at an ITTF Challenge Series tournament.[19]
In September 2015, it was announced that she would be part of the Japanese national team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[20] At 15 years of age, she won the bronze medal for Japan, where she won the last and important game against Feng Tianwei (Ranked 4th in the world), with 3–0 in sets for the Japanese women's table tennis team with Ai Fukuhara and Kasumi Ishikawa.[21] With her bronze medal in Rio, she broke another record for the youngest Olympic table tennis player to win a medal in the Women's Team category.[22]
In 2017, she played for the Liaoning team in the second-tier Chinese league.[23]
In January 2018, she won the women's singles at the All Japan Championship for the first time by defeating Miu Hirano in the final. She also won women's doubles with Hina Hayata and the mixed doubles with Masataka Morizono and achieved a triple crown. The triple crown is the third in the history of the All Japan Table Tennis Championships after Kazuko Yamaizumi (1960) and Kasumi Ishikawa (2014), and she was the youngest to achieve this feat at the age of 17 years old.[24] In February, at the , where a new method of playing doubles in the first game was introduced, she played mainly in doubles with Hina Hayata and won a silver medal.[25] In May, in the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, she defeated Jeon Ji-hee 3-0 in the semifinals[26] and Liu Shiwen, who has won 37 consecutive victories against Japanese players, in the first match in the final. She won 3-2 against her. The Japanese team eventually lost to China 1-3 and won a silver medal, but Ito herself finished the tournament with eight wins and zero losses. In June, at the , she beat Chen Xingtong in the women's singles semi-final after coming back from 0-3 deficit. She then went on to beat Wang Manyu in the final.[27] In November 2018, she beat all the top Chinese players ranked higher than her: world no. 6 and Olympic Singles gold medalist Ding Ning, world no. 2 Liu Shiwen and world no. 1 Zhu Yuling at the 2018 Swedish Open (table tennis), winning the tournament.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Mima_Ito_2019b.jpg/260px-Mima_Ito_2019b.jpg)
In November 2019, she beat world junior champion Qian Tianyi and Zhu Yuling to win the Austrian Open.[28]
In January 2020, it was announced that Ito Mima would be part of the women's table tennis team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, together with Kasumi Ishikawa and Miu Hirano. Earlier on, she had been the first player to be selected to play in the Women's Singles event.[29] In February, she won the Hungarian Open 2020, beating Taiwanese top player Cheng I-Ching 4–3.[30]
In March 2020, Ito Mima and Jun Mizutani won the Mixed Doubles category at the Qatar Open, beating Chinese pair Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin 3–1 in the finals.[31]
In November 2020, she won the bronze medal in the 2020 Women's World Cup, losing to Sun Yingsha in the semifinals, but beating Han Ying in the 3rd–4th place match. Also in November 2020, she won the bronze medal in the 2020 ITTF Finals, losing to Wang Manyu in the semifinals.[32][33]
2021[]
In 2021, Ito reached the finals of the Japan National Championships before losing 4-3 to Kasumi Ishikawa.[34][35] On the way to the finals, she avenged her 2020 loss to Hina Hayata.[36] In March, Mima Ito won the WTT Contender Event at WTT Doha, again defeating Hina Hayata in the finals.[37] She also won the ensuing WTT Star Contender event, defeating potential Olympic opponents Jeon Ji-hee in the semi-finals and Feng Tianwei in the finals,[38] capping off an undefeated run at WTT Doha[39] (albeit there were no Chinese players due to concerns about COVID-19[40]). As a result of her performance at WTT Doha, Ito passed Sun Yingsha for number two in the world rankings.[41] However, in April, ITTF amended the rules so that for the Tokyo Olympics, she would be seeded below Sun Yingsha.[42]
In June, Ito's mixed doubles teammate Jun Mizutani stated that they had a 70-80% chance of winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics and a 30% chance of winning gold.[43] In an interview to Chinese media, Deng Yaping stated that Ito was not a serious threat to challenge China at the Tokyo Olympics.[44] However, one week later, Liu Guoliang praised Japan and hinted that China was taking Japan as a serious threat in every event.[45] In an interview in late June, Ito stated that she was ready to play even if the Olympics were to be held the next day, and that she was hoping to take home three gold medals in Tokyo.[46]
Ito was paired with Jun Mizutani in the Mixed Doubles event which made its debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In the quarter-finals against Germany’s Patrick Franziska and Petrissa Solja, Ito and Jun advanced by prevailing in the seventh set 16-14 after saving seven match points. On 26 July 2021, Ito and Jun won the gold medal, becoming the first non-Chinese to win a gold in a table tennis event since 2004. Ito was praised for her aggressive play as critical in their comeback 4-3 finals win (after initially trailing 2-0) over the number one-ranked pair of China's Liu Shiwen and Xu Xin.[47]
Mima Ito reached the women’s singles semi-finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics comfortably, beating Jeon Ji-hee 4-0 (building a 10-0 lead in one game before giving Jeon a mercy point) in the quarter-finals.[48] However, in the semi-finals Mima Ito was crushed 4-0 by Sun Yingsha.[49] She would go on to win bronze in the women's singles event.[50] Ito stated that in regards to skill level, there was "a gulf in class" between China and Japan. “What I was doing was not bad, but the results showed that we are not even close", Ito said following her defeat to Sun Yingsha.[51]
Ito later competed in the team event and made it to the final match against China on 5th August, 2021. Her teammates Ishikawa and Hirano won the first game in the opening doubles however their lead was soon wiped out after Chen Meng and Wang Manyu had gained ground, winning 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7. Ito was unable to beat Sun Yingsha, going down 11-8, 11-5, 3-11, 11-3. Ito's team eventually lost the game after Wang beat Hirano 11-5, 11-9, 11-3 in the third match with the total score of 0-3 losing to China and consequently taking the Silver medal. After the game, Ito said "The last match is over and we enjoyed ourselves. Of course, we wanted to win and it stings to lose but it was fun."[52][53]
Playing style[]
Ito has a unique and constantly innovating playing style characterized by short pips on her backhand, fast flat smashes on the forehand, and a unique serve. As a result of Ito's creative returns with the short pips against short serves, opponents tend to serve fast long serves more often against her, even if it means yielding the opening.[54] In an essay in April 2021, Ito said that she felt her style was to finish the point in two or three shots.[55]
Both Liu Guoliang and Deng Yaping have praised Ito for her creativity and willingness to experiment and innovate in-match. Deng Yaping also praised Ito's tendency to mount comebacks based on her willingness to take risks and swing at difficult shots when she is losing by a lot.[56]
Awards[]
Titles[]
- ITTF World Tour (8[30]) - German 2015, Belarus 2015, Austria 2016, Czech 2017, Japan 2018, Sweden 2018, Austria 2019, Hungary 2020
In popular culture[]
Ito had a minor role in the 2017 film Mixed Doubles.[58] In 2018, she appeared in the music video of Little Glee Monster's single "Sekai wa Anata ni Waraikakete Iru" (世界はあなたに笑いかけている; "The World is Smiling at You".)[59]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Ito_Mima_crying_WTTC2016_1.jpeg/220px-Ito_Mima_crying_WTTC2016_1.jpeg)
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "8年後に五輪 狙う小5 伊藤美誠(卓球)". The Asahi Shimbun Digital. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ "ITTF World Ranking Profile - Ito Mima". ITTF. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ "ITTF Senior Women's Singles World Ranking". ITTF. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ "Most table tennis counter hits in one minute". Guinness World Records Limited. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
"Japan's 12-year-old table tennis prodigy eyes Olympics". 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
"Elfjährige Japanerin mischt Tischtennis-Szene auf – Wunderkind Mima Ito". Krone.at. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2014. - ^ "Table tennis – Junior World Championships – Women's Team 2013 season results". The-sports.org. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ "'Fatty' Liu sets table for China success". 9 December 2018.
- ^ "扫除强敌/国乒金花"围剿"伊藤美诚 _大公网". www.takungpao.com. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "被打0-11!丁宁0-4遭伊藤横扫 无缘卡塔尔赛决赛". 7 March 2020.
- ^ "TABLE TENNIS / The kids are all right – grade-schoolers tearing up pingpong tables". Asahi Shimbun. 10 February 2012. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
- ^ "12-year-old Mima ITO was the hero in Taipei". European Table Tennis Union. 28 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ "Tischtennis: Elfjährige besiegt Nummer 50 der Welt". Der Spiegel. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ "Table Tennis Japanese 13-year-olds make history at German Open". Sport Asia. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ "13 Year Old Japanese Duo Create History on the ITTF World Tour". Around The Rings. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ "Maturity Beyond Years, Miu Hirano and Mima Ito Repeat Magdeburg Success". Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor. 4 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ "At A Glance: Japanese Teenagers Create History in Bangkok". Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor. 13 December 2014. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ "Das Rekordkind: Mima Ito auf dem Weg zum Olympiasieg | Buntes | Panorama | myTischtennis.de".
- ^ "Gold for Miu Hirano and Mima Ito, Youngest Final Ever". Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor. 5 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ "Teenager Ito earns table tennis accolade". Kyodo, The Japan Times. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ^ https://www.ittf.com/2019/05/18/zagreb-highlights-miyuu-kihara-youngest-ever/
- ^ Romina Concha (20 October 2015). "Mima Ito Nominated For Rio 2016". Tabletennista.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ^ "Japan women earn bronze". the-japan-news.com. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- ^ "Rising Star: Mima Ito continues to break records with bronze medal". Simon Daish, new.ittf.com. 16 August 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- ^ "伊藤美诚参加中国甲A联赛:想吸收中国乒乓球界的能力". ITTF (in Chinese). 29 September 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ "美誠が最年少3冠達成!!!"みうみま"対決制し女子シングルス初V! - スポニチ Sponichi Annex スポーツ". スポニチ Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "日本は男女とも初優勝ならず中国に完敗 卓球団体戦 - 卓球 : 日刊スポーツ". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "卓球女子、南北合同チーム破る 銀以上確定 世界団体:朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "日本は男女とも初優勝ならず中国に完敗 卓球団体戦 - 卓球 : 日刊スポーツ". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "Japanese teenage star Mima Ito victorious at 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Austrian Open". 17 November 2019.
- ^ "Olympics: Harimoto, Ito headline Japan's 2020 table tennis squad".
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Mima Ito edges gruelling affair to land Budapest women's singles title". 23 February 2020.
- ^ https://www.sohu.com/a/378395019_553189
- ^ https://results.ittf.com/ittf-web-results/html/TTE5186/results.html#/knock-outs
- ^ http://results.ittf.com/ittf-web-results/TTE5263/results.html#/knock-outs
- ^ "Winners and Losers of China's Withdrawal From WTT Doha". edgesandnets.com. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ "WTT Doha 2021 Preview Part 3: Women's Singles seeds 5 To 8". edgesandnets.com. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ "Mima Ito vs Hina Hayata Finals Preview: A Statistical Approach". edgesandnets.com. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "Mima Ito Wins Doha Event With 4-2 Finals Over Hina Hayata". edgesandnets.com. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ "Analyzing Jeon Jihee's Serve Strategy Against Olympic Rival Mima Ito - Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- ^ "Confident Tomokazu Harimoto Defeats Ruwen Filus 4-2 To Take WTT Star Contender Title". edgesandnets.com. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Winners and Losers of China's Withdrawal From WTT Doha". edgesandnets.com. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Feng Tianwei Was The Biggest Winner At WTT Doha - Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ^ "World Table Tennis News Roundup – 04/19/21 - Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ "Jun Mizutani Discusses Olympics, Harimoto, Ito, and More". edgesandnets.com. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ "Deng Yaping: Mima Ito Is Not A Serious Threat to China". edgesandnets.com. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- ^ "Liu Guoliang Downplays Expectations and Reiterates Need For Mental Strength Heading Into Tokyo". edgesandnets.com. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- ^ "Kasumi Ishikawa and Mima Ito Interviews On Olympics and More". edgesandnets.com. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Japan's Ito and Mizutani Win Olympic Mixed Doubles Gold". edgesandnets.com. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "The Olympic Table Tennis Singles Quarterfinals In Memes". edgesandnets.com. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Sun Yingsha Crushes Mima Ito 4-0 In Olympic Semi-Finals". edgesandnets.com. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Chen Meng Defeats Sun Yingsha 4-2 to Clinch Olympic Gold". edgesandnets.com. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Germany and Japan To Face China In Olympic Table Tennis Team Finals". edgesandnets.com. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ "Chinese Women Cruise To Olympic Gold - Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ "Olympics: Japan takes table tennis women's team silver in Tokyo". Mainichi Daily News. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ "Analyzing Jeon Jihee's Evolving Service Strategy Against Mima Ito - Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ^ "Mima Ito Discusses WTT Doha and Tokyo Olympics - Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ^ "Mima Ito vs Sun Yingsha Olympic Preview". edgesandnets.com. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Teenager Ito earns table tennis accolade". Japan Times. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
"Chinese duo scoop main prizes at ITTF Star Awards". Inside the Games. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
"2015 Breakthrough Star – Mima Ito". TableTennisDaily.com. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016. - ^ "新垣結衣×瑛太「ミックス。」に水谷&石川ら現役卓球選手出演". Excite (in Japanese). 17 August 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
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- ^ "最新アスリートCMギャラランキング". Friday (in Japanese). 13 January 2017. p. 63. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "女性アスリート「CMギャラ」大坂なおみ1億円超の圧勝度". Flash (in Japanese). 27 April 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "引退アスリート「CMギャラ」元稀勢の里が1200万円で急上昇". Flash (in Japanese). 29 April 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
External links[]
- Mima Ito at the International Table Tennis Federation
- Mima Ito at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Mima Ito's ITTF ranking
- List of articles about Mima Ito provided by the ITTF website
- Mima Ito's Official Facebook
- Mima Ito's Sponsoring Nittaku Japan
- Mima Ito's Sponsoring Mizuno Japan
- 2000 births
- Living people
- Japanese female table tennis players
- Olympic table tennis players of Japan
- Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic medalists in table tennis
- Olympic bronze medalists for Japan
- Olympic gold medalists for Japan
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Sportspeople from Iwate Prefecture
- World Table Tennis Championships medalists
- Japanese expatriate sportspeople in China