Tomokazu Harimoto facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tomokazu Harimoto
Harimoto at the 2018 Youth Olympics Final
Personal information
Nationality	Chinese (before 2014) Japanese (after 2014)
Born	(2003-06-27) 27 June 2003 (age 21) Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Playing style	Right-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)	Butterfly Harimoto Tomokazu Innerforce ALC, Butterfly Dignics 05 (Forehand) Dignics 05 (Backhand)
Highest ranking	2 (22 November 2022)
Current ranking	3 (14 January 2025)
Club	Ryukyu Asteeda (T.League) TTC Neu-Ulm (TTCLM)
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb)
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing  Japan Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 0 1 World Championships 0 2 1 World Cup 0 2 2 Olympic Games Bronze 2020 Tokyo Team World Championships Silver 2021 Houston Mixed doubles Silver 2023 Durban Mixed doubles Bronze 2022 Chengdu Team World Cup Silver 2018 London Team Silver 2019 Chengdu Singles Bronze 2023 Chengdu Mixed team Bronze 2024 Macao Singles WTT Cup Finals Silver 2021 Singapore Singles Silver 2022 Xinxiang Singles ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Gold 2018 Incheon Singles Asian Championships Gold 2024 Astana Singles Bronze 2017 Wuxi Team Bronze 2019 Yogyakarta Singles Bronze 2019 Yogyakarta Team Asian Cup Gold 2022 Bangkok Singles Summer Youth Olympics Silver 2018 Buenos Aires Singles Silver 2018 Buenos Aires Mixed team World Junior Championships Gold 2016 Cape Town Singles Gold 2016 Cape Town Team Silver 2016 Cape Town Doubles Asian Junior Championships Gold 2016 Bangkok Team Silver 2016 Bangkok Singles

Tomokazu Harimoto (張本 智和, Harimoto Tomokazu, born 27 June 2003) is a Japanese professional table tennis player who is currently world rank number 3 in ITTF. Born to Chinese parents, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 2014. He won the world junior singles and team title at the 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships for Japan.

In August 2017, he became the youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour men's singles title, winning the Czech Open title at the age of 14 years and 61 days. In December 2018, he became the youngest player to win the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals at the age of 15 years and 172 days.

Personal life

Harimoto was born as Zhang Zhihe in Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture. His father Yuu Harimoto (born Zhang Yu) and mother Zhang Ling are both former professional table tennis players from Sichuan, China. Zhang Ling, at the peak of her career, represented the Chinese National Table Tennis Team at the 43rd World Table Tennis Championships in Tianjin. His parents moved from China to Japan in 1998. Tomokazu's younger sister Miwa Harimoto is also a table tennis player.

Harimoto began playing table tennis at the age of two. To compete in the All Japan Championships, he needed Japanese nationality. Consequently, his father and sister chose to become Japanese citizens as well. While in the fourth grade, he was naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 2014 and legally changed his surname to Harimoto.

In April 2022, Harimoto announced he will be attending Waseda University School of Human Sciences after graduating from Nihon University Senior High School.

Career

Junior career

Harimoto first won the All-Japan Table Tennis Championships Juniors title in 2010 as a first grader. He would continue to win the tournament for all 6 years of his elementary school years. In 2015, he was chosen to represent Japan at the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in France, becoming the youngest Japanese player to be chosen. However, due to the November 2015 Paris attacks, Harimoto was not able to participate in the tournament.

Aged 12 years and 355 days, Harimoto defeated seasoned professionals Ho Kwan Kit, Hugo Calderano, and teammate Kohei Sambe to win the 2016 U-21 Japan Open title. With the win, he became the youngest winner ITTF World Tour under-21 men's singles title. Later that year, Harimoto won gold medals in the boys' singles and teams events at the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Cape Town, South Africa. This win was historic, as Harimoto became the youngest winner of the World Junior Championships aged 13 years and 163 days. Harimoto achieved an Under-21 ranking of No. 10 in the world in December 2016.

2017

Harimoto began the year in February at the recently revamped India Open. He reached the finals with victories over Álvaro Robles, Sakai Asuka, Robert Gardos, and local favorite Sharath Kamal, before losing to defending champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov in straight sets.

2018

In June of 2018, Harimoto shocked the world by winning first place in the ITTF World Tour Japan Open, after beating Olympic champions Ma Long in the semifinal and Zhang Jike in the final. He was just short of 15 years old when he won the title. Later in the year, Harimoto continued to win the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Incheon, South Korea, where he defeated Lin Gaoyuan 4-1 in the final and became the youngest-ever winner of the event. His outstanding performance in 2018 also helped him reach No.3 in the ITTF world ranking, his career best.

2020

Harimoto won third place at the 2020 World Cup. Harimoto led 3–1 against Ma Long in the semi-finals, but lost 4–3 after Ma Long called time-out in the fifth game and switched to a high-toss serve that Harimoto had trouble reading.

2021

In March, Harimoto played in WTT Doha. He was upset in the semi-finals by Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the WTT Contender event, but won the champion for the WTT Star Contender event.

In June, teammate Jun Mizutani said that Harimoto's mental game was steadily improving in 2021 and better than the previous year. Mizutani also positively noted that Harimoto was reverting to his more aggressive style of play in 2021.

Harimoto was upset by Darko Jorgic in the round of 16 of the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics. Originally slated to be the ace player in the team event, Harimoto ended up playing in doubles in Japan's 3–1 victory against Sweden in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Harimoto won both his matches as the ace player against Germany, but Germany still won 3–2.

Records

• June 2016: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour under-21 men's singles title (12 years, 355 days).
• December 2016: Youngest ever winner of the boys' singles title at the World Junior Championships (13 years, 163 days).
• August 2017: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour men's singles title (14 years, 61 days).
• January 2018: Youngest ever winner of the men's singles title at the Japanese National Championships (14 years, 207 days).
• December 2018: Youngest ever winner of an ITTF World Tour Grand Finals men's singles title (15 years, 172 days).

Awards

• ITTF Star Awards: Breakthrough Star (2017)

Major tournament 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; (MD) men's doubles event; (XD) mixed doubles event; (T) team event.

Senior career highlights, as of 11 January 2025

ITTF/WTT career finals

Singles: 21 (12 titles, 9 runners-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Ref
Runner-up	2017	ITTF World Tour, India Open	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	0–4
Winner	2017	ITTF World Tour, Czech Open	Timo Boll	4–2
Winner	2018	ITTF World Tour, Japan Open	Zhang Jike	4–3
Winner	2018	ITTF World Tour Grand Finals	Lin Gaoyuan	4–1
Runner-up	2019	ITTF World Tour, Hong Kong Open	Lin Gaoyuan	2–4
Winner	2019	ITTF World Tour, Bulgaria Open	Zhao Zihao	4–2
Runner-up	2019	World Cup	Fan Zhendong	2–4
Winner	2020	ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open	Yukiya Uda	4–1
Winner	2021	WTT Star Contender Doha	Ruwen Filus	4–2
Runner-up	2021	WTT Cup Finals	Fan Zhendong	1–4
Winner	2022	WTT Champions European Summer Series	Lin Gaoyuan	4–3
Runner-up	2022	WTT Cup Finals	Wang Chuqin	2–4
Winner	2022	Asian Cup	Lim Jong-hoon	4–1
Runner-up	2024	WTT Contender Doha	Timo Boll	3–4
Winner	2024	WTT Contender Tunis	Yukiya Uda	4–3
Winner	2024	WTT Star Contender Bangkok	Lin Gaoyuan	4–0
Winner	2024	Asian Championships	Lin Shidong	3–1
Runner-up	2024	WTT Champions Montpellier	Félix Lebrun	1–4
Runner-up	2024	WTT Finals	Wang Chuqin	0–4
Winner	2025	WTT Star Contender Doha	Jonathan Groth	4–0
Runner-up	2025	WTT Contender Muscat	Chen Yuanyu	2–4

Men's doubles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runners-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponents	Score	Ref
Runner-up	2017	ITTF World Tour Platinum, China Open	Yuto Kizukuri	Jin Ueda / Maharu Yoshimura	1–3
Runner-up	2017	ITTF World Tour Platinum, German Open	Yuto Kizukuri	Jung Young-sik / Lee Sang-su	2–3
Winner	2022	WTT Contender Tunis	Yuto Kizukuri	Zhao Zihao / Xue Fei	3–2
Winner	2024	WTT Contender Tunis	Sora Matsushima	Huang Yan-cheng / Feng Yi-hsin	3–0
Winner	2024	WTT Star Contender Bangkok	Sora Matsushima	Kao Cheng-jui / Chuang Chih-yuan	3–2
Runner-up	2025	WTT Star Contender Doha	Sora Matsushima	Xiang Peng / Xu Yingbin	2–3
Winner	2025	WTT Contender Muscat	Sora Matsushima	Hung Jing-kai / Chang Yu-an	3–0

Mixed doubles: 15 (8 titles, 7 runners-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponents	Score	Ref
Runner-up	2019	ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open	Hina Hayata	Xu Xin / Zhu Yuling	0–3
Winner	2019	ITTF World Tour Platinum, Austrian Open	Hina Hayata	Lin Gaoyuan / Zhu Yuling	3–1
Runner-up	2021	World Championships	Hina Hayata	Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha	0–3
Winner	2022	WTT Contender Zagreb	Hina Hayata	Wong Chun Ting / Doo Hoi Kem	3–0
Runner-up	2022	WTT Star Contender European Summer Series	Hina Hayata	Wang Chuqin / Wang Manyu	2–3
Winner	2022	WTT Contender Tunis	Miwa Harimoto	Feng Yi-hsin / Chen Szu-yu	3–2
Runner-up	2023	Singapore Smash	Hina Hayata	Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha	1–3
Runner-up	2023	World Championships	Hina Hayata	Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha	0–3
Runner-up	2023	WTT Star Contender Lanzhou	Hina Hayata	Lin Shidong / Kuai Man	2–3
Winner	2023	WTT Contender Antalya	Hina Hayata	Félix Lebrun / Prithika Pavade	3–1
Runner-up	2024	WTT Contender Rio de Janeiro	Hina Hayata	Lim Jong-hoon / Shin Yu-bin	0–3
Winner	2024	WTT Contender Zagreb	Hina Hayata	Lim Jong-hoon / Shin Yu-bin	3–2
Winner	2024	WTT Star Contender Ljubljana	Hina Hayata	Lim Jong-hoon / Shin Yu-bin	3–2
Winner	2024	WTT Contender Tunis	Hina Hayata	Kristian Karlsson / Christina Källberg	3–2
Winner	2024	WTT Star Contender Bangkok	Hina Hayata	Wong Chun Ting / Doo Hoi Kem	3–1

Record against top-10 players

Harimoto's singles match record against those who had been ranked in the top 10 (as of 11 January  2025 (2025 -01-11)^[update]):

Player	Highest ranking	Record	Win%	Last match
Vladimir Samsonov	1	5–0	100%	Won (4–1) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open
Timo Boll	1	2–3	40%	Lost (3–4) at 2024 WTT Contender Doha
Ma Long	1	2–4	33%	Lost (3–4) at 2020 World Cup
Zhang Jike	1	2–0	100%	Won (4–3) at 2018 ITTF World Tour Japan Open
Xu Xin	1	0–8	0%	Lost (3–4) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Dimitrij Ovtcharov	1	7–4	64%	Won (3–0) at 2024 WTT Star Contender Ljubljana
Fan Zhendong	1	2–8	20%	Lost (3–4) at 2024 Summer Olympics
Wang Chuqin	1	2–10	17%	Lost (0–4) at 2024 WTT Finals
Lin Gaoyuan	2	4–4	50%	Won (4–0) at 2024 WTT Star Contender Bangkok
Liang Jingkun	2	2–6	25%	Won (3–1) at 2024 WTT Finals
Lin Shidong	2	4–1	80%	Won (4–3) at 2024 WTT Finals
Chuang Chih-yuan	3	8–3	73%	Won (3–0) at 2024 Summer Olympics
Hugo Calderano	3	4–1	80%	Won (4–1) at 2021 WTT Cup Finals
Truls Möregårdh	3	1–2	33%	Lost (2–3) at 2024 WTT China Smash
Jun Mizutani	4	3–0	100%	Won (4–1) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Hong Kong Open
Félix Lebrun	4	0–4	0%	Lost (1–4) at 2024 WTT Champions Montpellier
Koki Niwa	5	4–1	80%	Won (4–3) at 2019 World Cup
Lin Yun-ju	5	6–2	75%	Won (3–1) at 2024 Asian Championships
Wong Chun Ting	6	9–2	82%	Won (3–1) at 2024 WTT China Smash
Lee Sang-su	6	4–1	80%	Won (4–1) at 2022 Asian Cup
Darko Jorgić	6	3–1	75%	Won (3–1) at 2023 WTT Champions Macao
Marcos Freitas	7	5–2	71%	Won (4–2) at 2024 World Cup
Jeoung Young-sik	7	3–1	75%	Won (3–0) at 2021 WTT Star Contender Doha
Mattias Falck	7	2–2	50%	Lost (1–3) at 2022 WTT Champions Macao
Simon Gauzy	8	3–0	100%	Won (3–1) at 2024 Summer Olympics
Dang Qiu	8	1–0	100%	Won (3–0) at 2022 WTT Champions Budapest
Jang Woo-jin	8	6–4	60%	Won (3–0) at 2024 WTT Finals
Patrick Franziska	8	9–0	100%	Won (3–0) at 2024 WTT Champions Montpellier
Gao Ning	9	1–0	100%	Won (3–0) at 2018 World Championships
Kenta Matsudaira	9	0–1	0%	Lost (2–4) at 2018 ITTF World Tour Bulgarian Open
Quadri Aruna	10	3–2	60%	Lost (2–3) at 2024 WTT Champions Frankfurt

See also

In Spanish: Tomokazu Harimoto para niños