Kenta Matsudaira

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Kenta Matsudaira
Matsudaira at the 2013 World Championships
Personal information
Nationality	Japan
Born	(1991-04-11) 11 April 1991 (age 33)[1] Nanao-shi, Ishikawa, Japan
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[2]
Weight	61 kg (134 lb; 9.6 st)[2]
Table tennis career
Playing style	Right-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)	Matsudaira Kenta ALC, Tenergy 05 FH, Tenergy 05 BH
Highest ranking	9 (November 2017)[3]
Current ranking	121 (April 2020)
Club	T.T Saitama
Medal record Representing  Japan World Championships 2016 Kuala Lumpur Team 2010 Moscow Team 2014 Tokyo Team 2015 Suzhou Doubles Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou Doubles 2010 Guangzhou Team 2014 Incheon Doubles 2014 Incheon Team Asian Championships 2013 Busan Team 2013 Busan Singles

Kenta Matsudaira (松平 健太, Matsudaira Kenta, born April 11, 1991) is a Japanese table tennis player. Winner of the 2006 World Junior Championships in singles,^[4] he was the world number one junior player in 2008.^[5] He is world-renowned for his tomahawk serve, which he has popularized throughout his career. The serve itself is rather unorthodox but still ample in efficiency, making it even more effective due to its unfamiliar nature. His serve has been one of the imperative factors in his illustrious junior career, alongside making him a top 50 player for many years. He also utilizes its reverse variation.^[6]

Matsudaira became well known on the world stage after his match against the Olympic champion Ma Lin at the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships, where he demonstrated his advanced tomahawk serves, compact and explosive technique, alongside his dynamic backhand control. He won two straight games from a 1–3 deficit and held the lead at 4–1 in the seventh (he lost the set 11–9).^[7] Later, he beat Ma 4–1 at the 2013 World Table Tennis Championships in the Round of 64. After progressing to the Round of 16 and beating Vladimir Samsonov 4–3, he lost in the quarter-finals to the bronze medalist, Xu Xin, in 6 games. This is regarded as his best performance in his adult career and was considered to have performed the best out of all of the non-Chinese players. He is ranked 17 in the world as of January, 2017.^[8]