WTT Finals Fukuoka: Hayata Leads the New Triple Ace Lineup

A triple ace is born!

Three months after the Paris Olympics, the Japanese women’s table tennis world is showing signs of a golden age.

At the WTT Finals Fukuoka 2024, a world table tennis tournament held from November 20 to 24, it was not ace Hina Hayata (24), who made her return to her hometown, nor Miu Hirano (24), the silver medalist in the team competition at the Olympics, who drew the most attention from fans.

It was Satsuki Ohto (20). She finished in the top eight in singles and the runner-up in doubles this tournament, and jumped to No. 8 in the world rankings. Until April this year, she was ranked 125th, so that means she has surpassed more than 100 players in the world ranking.

What is the reason for this leap? Hiroko Fujii, a former representative of Japan’s table tennis team who coached Oto at the national Hopes training camp, had this to say.

Hiroko Fujii, a former Japan team representative who coached Oto at the Hopes Japan team training camp, said, “Oto’s fighting style is like Hayata’s, where he moves slightly away from the table and swings his arms widely. This style requires physical strength and the skill to rotate the ball, so many players are of the big-ball type. A good example is that Hirano and Misei Ito (24) rose to prominence first, and it took Hayata a long time to become an ace.
Even though Oto had a hard time budding, she had been refining her back drives and counters. This blossomed at once, and I think it is the reason for his current rapid progress.

16-year-old Miwa Zhang, who is even younger than Ohfuji, also finished in the top 8 at this year’s tournament.

She lost to a Chinese player, but her table tennis game has evolved. She is not beaten by the top Chinese players, nor does she collapse. Zhang is still getting stronger.

Hayata, who disappeared in the first round of this year’s tournament due to injury, seems to have already set his sights on the next Olympics in Los Angeles.

I think Hayata is at a point in her career where she wants to reform her own table tennis game, even if it means breaking her current style. After the Rio Olympics, Yoshizumi Ishikawa (31) was pushed by Ito and Hirano and failed to show results, but she took time to improve her game and won the All-Japan Championships in 2009, the year of the Olympics, for the first time in five years. Hayata is now in the same position as Ishikawa was at that time.

Four years later, the Japanese women’s table tennis team, which now boasts a triple ace lineup of Hayata, Zhang, and Oto, will be at the top of the world in Los Angeles, dominating the Chinese team.

From the December 13-20, 2024 issue of “FRIDAY