(by Steve Hopkins)

Table tennis fans have been following Tomokazu Harimoto on the Men’s tour for many years.  More recently, his 16 year old sister, Miwa Harimoto, has shined as well.  The results of these two at the recent ITTF Asian Table Tennis Championships was historic.

For Tomokazu’s part, he won the Men’s Singles title.  That is, Tomokazu logged a great performance in the most featured event of the tournament – and he beat Xu Yingbin, Lin Yun-Ju, Oh Junsung, and Lin Shidong on his path to that title.

Miwa did not headline in Women’s Singles, but she may have had the more impressive overall performance.  Miwa finished second in Women’s Singles, and equaled that result in Women’s Doubles as well.  But her performance in the Women’s Team event was the best of any player.  She was 1-0 against Singapore, 2-0 against India, and 2-0 against China in that Finals upset including wins over Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong.  That is, while she fell just short in Women’s Singles, it was after winning five victories and carrying Japan to the Asian Team Championship.

China won Men’s Teams and Mixed Doubles, but the world’s dominant table tennis power wasn’t the main story of the tournament.  The best team overall was Japan – and Japan was carried to its epic victories by two Harimotos.

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