Thank you for your 23 years of active career! Yoshizumi Ishikawa, the Genius Table Tennis Girl’s Treasured Photo Collection!
The name of Yoshizumi Ishikawa became known throughout Japan when she was in her second year of junior high school.
At the 2007 All-Japan Championships, where she competed, she beat a succession of working professionals to finish in the top four. She was the most talked-about table tennis prodigy since Ai Fukuhara (34), and was also dubbed “Ai-chan II.
This magazine interviewed Ishikawa alone when she was a student at the prestigious Shitennoji Habikigaoka Junior High School in Osaka, away from her hometown in Yamaguchi Prefecture (the first and second photos). She was not at all intimidated by the old man reporter,
She said, “I didn’t feel any pressure at all. From now on, I will be studied, and I think I have to fight with stronger feelings than ever before.
She answered clearly, “I am going to be studied from now on, so I have to fight with a stronger mind than before. On the other hand, however, “I have seen the drama ‘Boys Over Flowers,
On the other hand, she also said, “I came to like Matsumoto (Jun) of ‘Arashi’ after watching the drama ‘Boys Over Flowers’.”
He also showed a side of a junior high school student.
Sixteen years later, at the age of 30, Ishikawa finally announced his retirement on May 1.
She was ranked 11th in the latest world rankings and was still showing no signs of slowing down. Sportswriter Mina Takagi, who has interviewed Ishikawa and covered table tennis for many years, said, “Ishikawa is a natural player.”
“I think everyone see her resignation coming, which is typical of Ishikawa. Of course, she wanted to go to the Paris Olympics in 2024, but she did not make it clear, partly because of the change in the national team selection criteria. Ms. Ishikawa fought through the grueling Olympic selection process, thinking at every game, ‘This may be my last.’ I think she went as far as she could go, while cutting down her energy. I think her words in her retirement announcement, “I’ve done my best,” expresses her feelings.”
