Sayaka Hirano

Sayaka Hirano
Sayaka Hirano in 2008
Personal information
Nationality Japan
Born (1985-03-24) 24 March 1985 (age 39)[1]
Kanuma, Tochigi, Japan
Height158 cm (5 ft 2 in)
Weight54 kg (119 lb)[2]
Highest ranking10 (August 2011)[3]
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2012 London Team
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2014 Tokyo Team
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Doha Team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Bremen Team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Guangzhou Team
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Moscow Team

Sayaka Hirano (平野 早矢香, Hirano Sayaka, born 24 March 1985) is a Japanese five-time national table tennis champion.[4]

She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the third round of the singles competition. She also competed in the team competition, reaching the bronze medal final but losing to South Korea.[5]

At the 2012 London Olympics Women's Team Event semi-finals, she helped Japan overcome Singapore to reach their historic first final by winning her doubles match with Kasumi Ishikawa over Wang Yuegu and Li Jiawei (11-3, 13-11 and 11–4).[6][7] Japan failed to beat China in the final, but won the first ever silver medal for their country in table tennis.[8]

In March 2016, it was announced that she would be retiring after the Japanese Table Tennis League Big Tournament in April. She was beaten in the first round by Yuko Fujii and after the match, she said, "I feel I’ve done everything, I might have wanted to play a little better match. I’ve gone into each match thinking as if it were the last, and managed to end without any regrets".[9]

After her retirement as a professional table tennis player, she has become a familiar face in Japanese households as a TV presenter and table tennis sportscaster. She is also an adviser for table tennis club MIKI House.[10]

  1. ^ "ITTF players' profiles". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  2. ^ "Japanese Medalists in London 2012 Olympics". joc.or.jp. Japanese Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  3. ^ "ITTF world ranking". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  4. ^ "［元卓球日本代表 平野早矢香さん］（下）好きなおしゃべりが仕事になった 東京五輪・パラリンピックの魅力を伝えたい | Page 2".
  5. ^ "Olympic results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  6. ^ "Women's Team Event semi-finals 1 results". Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Japanese women make it through". Archived from the original on 27 August 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Women's team finals results". Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Sayaka Hirano bids farewell to table tennis". 9 April 2016.
  10. ^ "［元卓球日本代表 平野早矢香さん］（下）好きなおしゃべりが仕事になった 東京五輪・パラリンピックの魅力を伝えたい | Page 2".