by Ian Marshall, Editor
The results gained by now 15 year old Tomokazu Harimoto in the past two years are such that if he claims the scalp of a mighty name, it is not a surprise; such was the situation four years ago in Bangkok. The success gained by Miu Hirano and Mima Ito was to some extent anticipated.
Earlier in the year on Sunday 30th March, they had won the Women’s Doubles title at the ITTF World Tour German Open, both were 13 years old at the time; their combined ages amounted to just 27 years and 145 days old. Thus they gained a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
In Bangkok, their toughest encounter came in the opening round when they had to recover from a two games to nil deficit to beat Singapore’s Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu (6-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7), before overcoming Germany’s Shan Xiaona and Petrissa Solja in six games (5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8).
Pertinently, the win booked a place in the final where matters proved less exacting. They beat Poland’s Katarzyna Grzybowska and Natalia Partyka in four straight games (11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5).
In Incheon, the name of Mima Ito appears on the Women’s Doubles entry list but nowadays she partners, Hina Hayata. Both 18 years old, can teenagers win again?
They are the top seeds.
