Mima Ito

Mima Ito (伊藤 美誠, Itō Mima, born 21 October 2000) is a Japanese table tennis player.[3][4] She won a bronze medal in the Women's Team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics when she was 15 years old. 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.[5] She currently 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, strawberry receives, fast short-pimpled backhand punches and flat forehand smashes.[6]

Mima Ito
Ito in 2017
Personal information
Born (2000-10-21) 21 October 2000
Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan[1]
Playing styleRight-handed, Shakehand grip, Counter Driver
Equipment(s)Nittaku Acoustic Carbon, Nittaku Moristo SP, Nittaku Fastarc G-1
Highest ranking2 (April 2020)[2]
Current ranking2 (April 2020)
Height1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Weight45 kg (99 lb)

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.[7]

Career

At the age of ten, she became the youngest person to win a match at the Japanese senior table tennis championships[1][8] and the youngest person to win an ITTF Junior Circuit tournament.[9] At eleven she defeated the player ranked 50th in the world at the time.[10] 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.[11][12]

In April 2014 she won again with Miu Hirano, a double title at the ITTF World Tour in Spain.[13]

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.[14] In March 2015 she won, after beating Shan Xiaona, Che Xiaoxi and Feng Tianwei, the singles' title at German Open against Petrissa Solja.[15] 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.[16]

In December 2015 the 2015 ITTF Star Awards, a Breakthrough Star Award presented by TMS International was given out to Japan's Mima Ito.[17]

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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]

In 2017, she played for the Liaoning team in the second-tier Chinese league.[21]

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.

Mima Ito throwing the ceremonial first pitch, Yomiuri Giants vs. Hanshin Tigers, Tokyo Dome, 2 April 2019.

In November 2019, she beat world junior champion Qian Tianyi and Zhu Yuling to win the Austrian Open. [22]

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.[23] In February, she won the Hungarian Open 2020, beating Taiwanese top player Cheng I-Ching 4-3. [24]

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.[25]

Awards
  • 2015: ITTF Breakthrough Star of the Year[26]

Titles
  • ITTF World Tour (8[27]) - German 2015, Belarus 2015, Austria 2016, Czech 2017, Japan 2018, Sweden 2018, Austria 2019, Hungary 2020

Ito had a minor role in the 2017 film Mixed Doubles.[28] 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".)[29]

References
  1. "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.
  2. "ITTF World Ranking Profile - Ito Mima". ITTF. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  3. "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.
  4. "Table tennis – Junior World Championships – Women's Team 2013 season results". The-sports.org. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  5. https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/fatty-liu-sets-table-for-china-success
  6. http://www.takungpao.com/life/238149/2019/1208/387440.html
  7. https://sports.sina.com.cn/others/pingpang/2020-03-07/doc-iimxxstf7213614.shtml
  8. "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.
  9. "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.
  10. "Tischtennis: Elfjährige besiegt Nummer 50 der Welt". Der Spiegel. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  11. "Table Tennis Japanese 13-year-olds make history at German Open". Sport Asia. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  12. "13 Year Old Japanese Duo Create History on the ITTF World Tour". Around The Rings. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  13. "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.
  14. "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.
  15. http://www.mytischtennis.de/public/buntes/5795/das-rekordkind--mima-ito-auf-dem-weg-zum-olympiasieg
  16. "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.
  17. "Teenager Ito earns table tennis accolade". Kyodo, The Japan Times. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  18. 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.
  19. "Japan women earn bronze". the-japan-news.com. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  20. "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.
  21. "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.
  22. https://www.ittf.com/2019/11/17/japanese-teenage-star-mima-ito-victorious-2019-ittf-world-tour-platinum-austrian-open/
  23. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/01/5e575c6cfdb7-olympics-harimoto-ito-headline-japans-2020-table-tennis-squad.html
  24. https://www.ittf.com/2020/02/23/mima-ito-edges-gruelling-affair-land-budapest-womens-singles-title/
  25. https://www.sohu.com/a/378395019_553189
  26. "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.
  27. https://www.ittf.com/2020/02/23/mima-ito-edges-gruelling-affair-land-budapest-womens-singles-title/
  28. "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.
  29. "【卓球】伊藤美誠がLittle Glee Monsterの新曲MVに出演" (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 October 2019.
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