Miu Hirano facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Miu Hirano
Hirano at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
Personal information
Born	(2000-04-14) 14 April 2000 (age 24) Numazu, Japan
Playing style	Right-handed, shakehand grip, counter driver
Equipment(s)	Butterfly Viscaria FL (blade), Butterfly Tenergy 05 Hard (FH, black), Butterfly Tenergy 05 (BH, red)
Highest ranking	5 (July 2017)
Current ranking	18 (20 February 2024)
Club	Kinoshita Abyell Kanagawa (T.League)
Height	1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Medal record Women's table tennis Representing  Japan Olympic Games Silver 2020 Tokyo Team Silver 2024 Paris Team World Championships Silver 2018 Halmstad Team Silver 2024 Busan Team Bronze 2017 Düsseldorf Singles World Cup Gold 2016 Philadelphia Singles Bronze 2023 Chengdu Mixed team Asian Games Silver 2014 Incheon Team Silver 2022 Hangzhou Team Asian Championships Gold 2017 Wuxi Singles Silver 2015 Pattaya Doubles Silver 2015 Pattaya Team Silver 2017 Wuxi Team Silver 2019 Yogyakarta Team Bronze 2019 Yogyakarta Doubles Bronze 2023 Pyeongchang Team

Miu Hirano (平野 美宇, Hirano Miu) (born 14 April 2000) is a Japanese table tennis player. She won Women's World Cup in 2016 as the youngest ever winner. She won the women's singles at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships by sweeping away three top Chinese players. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in women's team event.

Career

2014

In March 2014, she and Mima Ito won their first doubles title at ITTF World Tour German Open. They became the youngest ever winners of the doubles competition in the ITTF World Tour. She was part of the Japanese team in 2014 Asian Games, but lost to China in the final.

In April 2014 she won her second doubles title with Mima Ito at the ITTF World Tour Spanish open.

In December 2014, she won the doubles title with Mima Ito at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Bangkok. The pair defeated Singapore pair of Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu in the semi-finals and Poland pair of Katarzyna Grzybowska and Natalia Partyka in the final.

2015

On 5 July 2015, Miu Hirano and Mima Ito won the Women's Doubles title at the ITTF World Tour Korean Open. This was their third doubles title since 2014.

2016

In April 2016, she won her first women's singles title in ITTF World Tour Polish Open by defeating Yu Mengyu in the Final.

On 9 October 2016, with the absence of Chinese players, she seized the opportunity to win the Women's World Cup in Philadelphia, USA after defeating Mima Ito in the quarterfinals, Feng Tianwei in the semi-final and Cheng I-ching in the final. This marks the youngest women's World Cup Champion and the first non-Chinese player to win the title.

2017

Hirano celebrating the moment she won the 2017 Asian Championships

On 22 January 2017, she won All Japan Championships by defeating Kasumi Ishikawa 4–2 in the final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. On 14 April 2017, she defeated the world ranked No.1 player Ding Ning at the 2017 ITTF Asian Table Tennis Championships. The following day of the tournament, she defeated the world ranked No.2 player Zhu Yuling in the Semifinals and Chen Meng world ranked No.5 in the Finals, where she set a new record for the youngest winner of the Asian Championships in the singles event. She became the third non-Chinese player ever and the first non-Chinese player since Chire Koyama in 1996 to win the singles title.

In the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships in Düsseldorf, Hirano progressed to the singles semi-finals but lost to Ding Ning of China. She obtained a joint bronze medal with Liu Shiwen of China. This ended a long medal drought for Japan in women's singles at the world championships since Toshiko Kowada achieved the gold medal in 1969 World Championships.

2021

Hirano represented Japan at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the team event. However, she will not play in the singles event. In March, Hirano played in WTT Doha, but suffered disappointing upsets in both the WTT Contender and WTT Star Contender event, including a loss to Shin Yubin in a potential Olympic Team preview.

Hirano won silver in the team event at the Tokyo Olympics.

Teams

Teams joined in T.League:

• Nissay Red Elf (2018–2022)
• Kinoshita Abyell Kanagawa (2022–)

Awards

• 2016: ITTF Breakthrough Star of the Year

Records

• World Cup Women's singles the youngest Champion
• Asian Championship Women's singles the youngest Champion

Performance timeline

(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist, rank added if bronze medal match played; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1
(S) singles event; (D) women's doubles event; (T) team event

Finals

Women's singles

Result	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Ref
Runner-up	2014	ITTF World Tour, Spanish Open	Li Fen	1–4
Winner	2016	ITTF World Tour, Polish Open	Yu Mengyu	4–0
Runner-up	2016	ITTF World Tour, Croatia Open	Hitomi Sato	1–4
Winner	2016	World Cup	Cheng I-ching	4–0
Winner	2017	Asian Championships	Chen Meng	3–0
Runner-up	2019	ITTF World Tour, Czech Open	Chen Xingtong	3–4
Runner-up	2019	ITTF Challenge Plus, Canada Open	Kasumi Ishikawa	2–4
Runner-up	2022	WTT Contender Zagreb	Mima Ito	2–4
Winner	2022	WTT Feeder Otocec	Haruna Ojio	4–1
Winner	2023	WTT Contender Zagreb	Sun Yingsha	4–3

Women's doubles

Result	Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponents	Score	Ref
Winner	2014	ITTF World Tour, German Open	Mima Ito	Katarzyna Grzybowska / Natalia Partyka	3–0
Winner	2014	ITTF World Tour, Spanish Open	Mima Ito	Liu Jia / Iveta Vacenovská	3–2
Runner-up	2014	ITTF World Tour, Korea Open	Mima Ito	Chen Ke / Wang Manyu	0–3
Winner	2014	ITTF World Tour Grand Finals	Mima Ito	Katarzyna Grzybowska / Natalia Partyka	4–0
Runner-up	2015	ITTF World Tour, Spanish Open	Mima Ito	Ai Fukuhara / Misako Wakamiya	2–3
Winner	2015	ITTF World Tour, Korea Open	Mima Ito	Hina Hayata / Hitomi Sato	3–2
Runner-up	2015	Asian Championships	Mima Ito	Kim Hye-sung / Ri Mi-gyong	0–4
Runner-up	2015	ITTF World Tour Grand Finals	Mima Ito	Ding Ning / Zhu Yuling	0–4
Winner	2017	ITTF World Tour, German Open	Hina Hayata	Chen Szu-yu / Cheng I-ching	3–0
Runner-up	2019	ITTF World Tour, Bulgarian Open	Saki Shibata	Gu Yuting / Mu Zi	0–3
Runner-up	2019	ITTF World Tour, Czech Open	Saki Shibata	Gu Yuting / Mu Zi	1–3
Runner-up	2019	ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open	Kasumi Ishikawa	Chen Meng / Ding Ning	1–3
Runner-up	2020	ITTF World Tour Platinum, German Open	Kasumi Ishikawa	Chen Meng / Wang Manyu	1–3
Winner	2020	ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open	Kasumi Ishikawa	Doo Hoi Kem / Lee Ho Ching	3–0
Winner	2021	WTT Contender Doha	Kasumi Ishikawa	Cheng Hsien-tzu / Chen Szu-yu	3–0
Runner-up	2021	WTT Star Contender Doha	Kasumi Ishikawa	Shin Yu-bin / Jeon Ji-hee	0–3
Winner	2022	WTT Contender Almaty	Hina Hayata	Choi Hyo-joo / Shin Yu-bin	3–0

See also

In Spanish: Miu Hirano para niños