Famous Chinese Table Tennis Player Faces Obscenity Allegations Against His Mother After Private Encounter with Former Student

“Would you like to come and observe now?”

The man called the mother of his student on the phone during the evening when the intense heat had somewhat eased. When the child went outside to run, leaving them alone, the man is said to have reached out to the mother’s body.

On August 20, the Saitama Prefectural Police Warabi Station arrested the suspect, Kaii Konishi (43), a resident of Toda City in the same prefecture, on suspicion of non-consensual lewd acts. Konishi is a well-known professional table tennis player. He is accused of touching the body of a woman in her 40s at the table tennis school where he teaches.

“Konishi Suspect is originally from Hebei Province in Northeast China and began playing table tennis at the age of seven under the name Song Haiwei. He moved to Japan in his first year of high school and enrolled at Aomori Yamada High, a school known for its strong sports programs. From 2004, he achieved consecutive victories at the All-Japan Table Tennis Championships and won a bronze medal as a member of the men’s team at the 2010 World Championships, becoming a prominent figure in the table tennis world.

In 2004, he naturalized as a Japanese citizen and married Konishi An, a representative of the women’s table tennis team at the Sydney Olympics in 2010. They were known as the “big couple of the table tennis world” at the time. As a result of the marriage, he changed his name to Kaii Konishi. An opened a table tennis school named “WEILAI,” meaning “future” in Chinese, in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture, in 2014. The incident leading to his arrest occurred within the “WEILAI” facility.”

 

In the Instructor’s Space…

“WEILAI” was a well-regarded table tennis school where top athletes provided direct instruction, attracting students from other prefectures. However, trouble arose between around 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. on August 7.

“Suspect Konishi called the mother of a student, Ms. A, on the phone, asking her, ‘Would you like to come and observe?’ When the child went outside for running, leaving the two of them alone, Konishi is said to have committed lewd acts on Ms. A in the instructor’s space within the school. Troubled, Ms. A consulted the police on August 9, two days later, saying, ‘I was touched inappropriately at the table tennis school my child attends.’ Based on the statements from those involved, Konishi’s arrest followed.”

According to the police investigation, Suspect Konishi is reportedly denying the lewd intent with a surprising explanation.

“I touched the woman’s body for massage”

On the morning of August 21, shortly after 9 a.m., our magazine’s photographer captured the suspect Konishi being escorted. Sitting in the back seat of the transport vehicle, he kept his mouth tightly closed, and his expression suggested a sense of resignation. He faced straight ahead and did not attempt to hide his face from the press. The police are continuing their investigation into the detailed circumstances of the incident.