Tomokazu Harimoto

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) 27 June 2003 (age 21)
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan[1]
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Weight64 kg (141 lb)[2]
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)Butterfly Harimoto Tomokazu Innerforce ALC, Butterfly Dignics 05 (Forehand) Dignics 05 (Backhand)[3]
Highest ranking2 (22 November 2022)[4]
Current ranking9 (13 August 2024)[5]
ClubRyukyu Asteeda (T.League)[6]
TTC Neu-Ulm (TTCLM)[7]
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  Japan
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 1
World Championships 0 2 1
World Cup 0 2 2
Total 0 4 4
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Team
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2021 Houston Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2023 Durban Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Chengdu Team
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2018 London Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Chengdu Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Chengdu Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Macao Singles
WTT Cup Finals
Silver medal – second place 2021 Singapore Singles
Silver medal – second place 2022 Xinxiang Singles
ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Gold medal – first place 2018 Incheon Singles
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2024 Astana Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Wuxi Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Yogyakarta Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Yogyakarta Team
Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 2022 Bangkok Singles
Summer Youth Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Singles
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Mixed team
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Cape Town Singles
Gold medal – first place 2016 Cape Town Team
Silver medal – second place 2016 Cape Town Doubles
Asian Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Bangkok Team
Silver medal – second place 2016 Bangkok Singles

Tomokazu Harimoto (張本 智和, Harimoto Tomokazu, born 27 June 2003) is a Japanese professional table tennis player who is currently world rank number 9 in ITTF. Born to Chinese parents, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 2014.[8] He won the world junior singles and team title at the 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships for Japan.

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.[9] 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.[10]

  1. ^ "Tomokazu Harimoto: 12-Year-Old Shakes Up The World". Butterfly Online. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Tomokazu Harimoto". ttcnu.de (in German). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  3. ^ "HARIMOTO, TOMOKAZU". butterflyonline.com. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  4. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking Men's Singles 2022 Week #47". ittf.com. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  5. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking". ittf.com. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  6. ^ "張本 智和 Tomokazu Harimoto". tleague.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  7. ^ "TTC Neu-Ulm Team". TTC Neu-Ulm (in German). Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Rosie DiManno: Meet the Japanese teen phenom threatening China's decades-long dominance of table tennis". Toronto Star. 26 July 2021.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "Amazing form maintained, Tomokazu Harimoto wins in Incheon". International Table Tennis Federation. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.