Hina Hayata’s Progress and Olympic Journey: Revealed by her Exclusive Coach

Hayata (21) has been making great strides. After the frustrating experience of being a support member at the Tokyo Olympics, she won three titles including singles at the Asian Championships in September. Her latest world ranking is up to No. 6 (as of April 20), behind only Mimasa Ito at No. 4.

The person who has most closely supported Hayata’s development is her personal coach, Daisuke Ishida (42). Ishida studied table tennis at the Ishida Table Tennis Club in Fukuoka Prefecture, to which Hayata belonged, and went on to Tsukuba University. After graduation, he worked for a major company headquartered in Osaka, but in retrospect, his life took off when he met Hayata.

He recalls, “She was a child who practiced tremendously from elementary school, but by the time she was in the third year of junior high school, the depth of her practice had changed. She put her whole heart and soul into table tennis. I looked at Hina, who was 14 years old at the time, and asked myself, ‘Have I ever put this much into something in my life? Many people have asked me about the pros and cons of being an exclusive coach, but I have no regrets at all.

Hayata describes Ishida, now in his eighth year as an exclusive coach, as “like being with parents”. Although they are as far apart in age as a parent and child, Ishida has spent a lot of time with Hayata both publicly and privately, including cooking meals for her every day to keep her healthy.

Hina often divides her meals into several smaller portions rather than eating a lot at once. To provide her with the necessary energy, I make her something  easy to digest, such as chicken meat cooked at a low temperature between practices. I buy chicken at the supermarket in the morning, practice, cook it for lunch, and practice again (laughs). (Laughs) But I guess it suits my nature, and I enjoy doing it.

From Ishida’s point of view, what has changed the most in Hayata over the past three years is not so much her technical skills, but her inner self. She had always been perceived as a child who was not good at self-expression and was too reserved around others. Ishida believes that many people are willing to support Hayata because of her human nature, a trait that is rare among top individual athletes.

In terms of personality, she is a really serious and hardworking girl. It’s easy to say “steady” but she is really patient and has been working on some things for more than 10 years without a break. She is a child who is attentive by nature and is the type of person who chews up and quietly nods her head when I advise her to do something like this in a tactical discussion, for example. She is also clumsy, and until she was in high school, she rarely spontaneously communicated with others, even when she was not convinced of something.

Behind the scenes, I practice more than anyone else to complete my practice until I am satisfied every day, and no matter how much time passes, everyone involved, not just me, supports Hina. That is why in the last three years, I have become able to quickly summarize and output my senses and opinions in my mind and think about what kind of practice I need to do and send them out from Hina. I think my mind has become much stronger since then.

At the Tokyo Olympics last summer, Hayata spent a month as a support member after losing the national team competition. Hayata had a hard schedule, sometimes staying up until around 2 am to back up the team members, and practicing on her own in the few free hours she had. Ishida recalls that he felt a definite sense of growth in the words he exchanged with Hayata after the Olympics.

“She must have been mentally and physically exhausted, and I’m sure there must have been some hardship in her heart,” Ishida said. But her first words were, with a big smile on her face, “I was really moved, I was happy to see it with my own eyes. It was fun” That’s the kind of naivete that comes out first, rather than frustration or hardship. We were exhausted, too, but we didn’t say “I’m tired” at all (laughs). (Laughs.) It was really a great achievement, and at the same time, I knew that she would get stronger and stronger.

As Ishida had predicted, Hayata continued to win after the Olympics. She won three titles at the Asian Championships and recorded 15 consecutive wins, including international competitions, showing her unparalleled strength not only in singles but also in doubles and mixed doubles. She also won the Lion’s Cup, the first selection event for the Paris Olympics, beating out the rest of the Olympic team. She is now recognized as one of Japan’s top players, both in name and in reality.

In a match, Hayata has a grim expression and yells, but away from table tennis, her personality changes. During breaks, she is relaxed, dancing to the music of “GENERATIONS,” smiling and enjoying conversation, and then, a few seconds later, she suddenly falls asleep.

Ishida laughs, “I’m just an ordinary girl who can be found anywhere, and I probably spend more time in a daze than other girls my age.”

Her characteristic is that she has a clear on / off switch. However, Ishida feels that in recent years, this switch is no longer turned off completely.

I’ve always thought it was important to switch off, but now I find myself talking loosely about table tennis even when I’m off duty. For example, even during a short trip, such as dropping her off at the hairdresser’s, we often talk about table tennis. Normally, they would talk about what kind of hairstyle they are going to get … although you might say that they don’t talk about that with me (laughs). (Laughs). I am surprised at how she seems to really enjoy it, and she now talks about it, including her own thoughts. She is a table tennis fanatic, and the sport has never disappeared as an extension of her personal life.

One of the reasons for Hayata’s rapid progress is that she now has a clear goal in mind, and this has created a virtuous cycle: to defeat China. Hayata has been aware of these words since she was a child, and as she has grown, they have become a reality and are now within her reach. Ishida analyzes that the level of Japanese women’s table tennis has improved significantly, but the Kingdom of Table Tennis has become even stronger than that.

The Chinese players have been consistently strong for the last 10 years, but their current strength is the ultimate. In particular, Sun Yingxia and Wang Man-Yu, who are of the same generation as Hina, have strong skills. well as men, and have already reached a level that was unthinkable in the past. He is without a doubt one of the strongest players of all time.

Still, Hayata’s goal remains the same: to beat the strongest Chinese player. It is precisely because she is focused on this goal that she can maintain a high level of motivation and enjoy the game of table tennis.

The level of the current Chinese players is really the ultimate. But because it is the ultimate, aiming for that level and working harder than ever before suits Hina. There is not the slightest sign that Hina is giving up on her high goal. Beating the Chinese players will naturally lead to Paris, and the fact that she enjoys such a situation more than anything else is her growth and strength.

If all goes well, the golden generation of Misei Ito, Miu Hirano, and Hayata will take center stage at the Paris Olympics, where they will be 23 to 24 years old and in their prime. continue to study hard with Ishida.