| Tomokazu Harimoto | |
| Nationality: | Chinese (before 2014) Japanese (after 2014) |
| Birth Name: | Zhang Zhihe (Chinese: 張智和) |
| Birth Date: | 27 June 2003 |
| Birth Place: | Sendai, Miyagi, Japan[1] |
| Playingstyle: | Right-handed, shakehand grip |
| Equipment: | Butterfly Harimoto Tomokazu Innerforce ALC, Butterfly Dignics 05 (Forehand) Dignics 05 (Backhand)[2] |
| Hrank: | 2 (22 November 2022)[3] |
| Crank: | 3 (26 November 2024)[4] |
| Club: | Ryukyu Asteeda (T.League)[5] TTC Neu-Ulm (TTCLM)[6] |
| Height: | 1.78 m[7] |
| Weight: | 64 kg |
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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]
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.[11] His parents moved from China to Japan in 1998.[12] Tomokazu's younger sister Miwa Harimoto is also a table tennis player.[13] [14]
Harimoto began playing table tennis at the age of two.[15] To compete in the All Japan Championships, he needed Japanese nationality. Consequently, his father and sister chose to become Japanese citizens as well.[16] While in the fourth grade, he was naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 2014 and legally changed his surname to Harimoto.[17]
In April 2022, Harimoto announced he will be attending Waseda University School of Human Sciences after graduating from Nihon University Senior High School.[18]
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.
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.
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.[19] 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.
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.[20]
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.[21]
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.[22]
Harimoto was upset by Darko Jorgic in the round of 16 of the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.[23] 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.[24] In the semi-finals, Harimoto won both his matches as the ace player against Germany, but Germany still won 3–2.[25]
Breakthrough Star (2017)[29]
| W | F | SF | QF |
|
| Tournament | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | data-sort-value="1" style="text-align: left;" | S | QF | 4R | 2R | QF | |||
| data-sort-value="2" style="text-align: left;" | MD | 3R | 3R | 1R | |||||
| data-sort-value="3" style="text-align: left;" | XD | F | F | ||||||
| data-sort-value="4" style="text-align: left;" | T | QF | SF | ||||||
| Olympic Games | data-sort-value="1" style="text-align: left;" | S | 4R | ||||||
| data-sort-value="4" style="text-align: left;" | T | SF3 | |||||||
| WTT Cup Finals | data-sort-value="1" style="text-align: left;" | S | F | F | QF | ||||
| World Cup | data-sort-value="1" style="text-align: left;" | S | QF | F | SF3 | ||||
| data-sort-value="4" style="text-align: left;" | T | F | SF | 3rd | |||||
| World Tour Grand Finals | data-sort-value="1" style="text-align: left;" | S | QF | W | QF | 1R | |||
| data-sort-value="2" style="text-align: left;" | MD | QF | |||||||
| Year-end ranking | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
| 17 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 11 | |||
| Result | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 2017 | ITTF World Tour, India Open | Dimitrij Ovtcharov | 0–4 | [31] | |
| Winner | 2017 | ITTF World Tour, Czech Open | Timo Boll | 4–2 | [32] | |
| Winner | 2018 | ITTF World Tour, Japan Open | Zhang Jike | 4–3 | [33] | |
| Winner | 2018 | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | Lin Gaoyuan | 4–1 | [34] | |
| Runner-up | 2019 | ITTF World Tour, Hong Kong Open | Lin Gaoyuan | 2–4 | [35] | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour, Bulgaria Open | Zhao Zihao | 4–2 | [36] | |
| Runner-up | 2019 | World Cup | Fan Zhendong | 2–4 | [37] | |
| Winner | 2020 | ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open | Yukiya Uda | 4–1 | [38] | |
| Winner | 2021 | WTT Star Contender Doha | Ruwen Filus | 4–2 | [39] | |
| Runner-up | 2021 | WTT Cup Finals | Fan Zhendong | 1–4 | [40] | |
| Winner | 2022 | WTT Champions European Summer Series | Lin Gaoyuan | 4–3 | [41] | |
| Runner-up | 2022 | WTT Cup Finals | Wang Chuqin | 2–4 | [42] | |
| Winner | 2022 | Asian Cup | Lim Jong-hoon | 4–1 | [43] | |
| Runner-up | 2024 | WTT Contender Doha | Timo Boll | 3–4 | [44] | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Contender Tunis | Yukiya Uda | 4–3 | [45] | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Star Contender Bangkok | Lin Gaoyuan | 4–0 | [46] | |
| Winner | 2024 | Asian Championships | Lin Shidong | 3–1 | [47] | |
| Runner-up | 2024 | WTT Champions Montpellier |  Félix Lebrun | 1–4 | [48] | |
| Runner-up | 2024 | WTT Finals |  Wang Chuqin | 0–4 | [49] |
| Result | Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponents | Score | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 2017 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, China Open | Yuto Kizukuri | Jin Ueda / Maharu Yoshimura | 1–3 | [50] | |
| Runner-up | 2017 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, German Open | Yuto Kizukuri | Jung Young-sik / Lee Sang-su | 2–3 | [51] | |
| Winner | 2022 | WTT Contender Tunis | Yuto Kizukuri | Zhao Zihao / Xue Fei | 3–2 | [52] | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Contender Tunis | Sora Matsushima | Huang Yan-cheng / Feng Yi-hsin | 3–0 | [53] | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Star Contender Bangkok | Sora Matsushima | Kao Cheng-jui / Chuang Chih-yuan | 3–2 | [54] |
| Result | Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponents | Score | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 2019 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open | Hina Hayata | Xu Xin / Zhu Yuling | 0–3 | [55] | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, Austrian Open | Hina Hayata | Lin Gaoyuan / Zhu Yuling | 3–1 | [56] | |
| Runner-up | 2021 | World Championships | Hina Hayata | Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha | 0–3 | [57] | |
| Winner | 2022 | WTT Contender Zagreb | Hina Hayata | Wong Chun Ting / Doo Hoi Kem | 3–0 | [58] | |
| Runner-up | 2022 | WTT Star Contender European Summer Series | Hina Hayata | Wang Chuqin / Wang Manyu | 2–3 | [59] | |
| Winner | 2022 | WTT Contender Tunis | Miwa Harimoto | Feng Yi-hsin / Chen Szu-yu | 3–2 | [60] | |
| Runner-up | 2023 | Singapore Smash | Hina Hayata | Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha | 1–3 | [61] | |
| Runner-up | 2023 | World Championships | Hina Hayata | Wang Chuqin / Sun Yingsha | 0–3 | [62] | |
| Runner-up | 2023 | WTT Star Contender Lanzhou | Hina Hayata | Lin Shidong / Kuai Man | 2–3 | [63] | |
| Winner | 2023 | WTT Contender Antalya | Hina Hayata | Félix Lebrun / Prithika Pavade | 3–1 | [64] | |
| Runner-up | 2024 | WTT Contender Rio de Janeiro | Hina Hayata | Lim Jong-hoon / Shin Yu-bin | 0–3 | [65] | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Contender Zagreb | Hina Hayata | Lim Jong-hoon / Shin Yu-bin | 3–2 | [66] | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Star Contender Ljubljana | Hina Hayata | Lim Jong-hoon / Shin Yu-bin | 3–2 | [67] | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Contender Tunis | Hina Hayata | Kristian Karlsson / Christina Källberg | 3–2 | [68] | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Star Contender Bangkok | Hina Hayata | Wong Chun Ting / Doo Hoi Kem | 3–1 | [69] |
Harimoto's singles match record against those who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who have been No. 1 in bold:
Statistics correct . * indicates current world rank no. 1.
| Player | Ranking | Record | Win% | Last match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fan Zhendong* | 1 | 2–6 | 25% | Lost (3–4) at Table tennis at the 2024 Summer Olympics | |
| Timo Boll | 1 | 1–2 | 33% | Lost (1–4) at 2018 ITTF Men's World Cup | |
| Dimitrij Ovtcharov | 1 | 4–4 | 50% | Won (3–1) at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games | |
| Xu Xin | 1 | 0–8 | 0% | Lost (3–4) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | |
| Ma Long | 1 | 2–4 | 33% | Lost (3–4) at 2020 ITTF Men's World Cup | |
| Zhang Jike | 1 | 2–0 | 100% | Won (4–3) at 2018 ITTF Japan Open | |
| Vladimir Samsonov | 1 | 5–0 | 100% | Won (4–1) at 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open | |
| Lin Gaoyuan | 2 | 3–2 | 60% | Won (4–3) at 2022 WTT Champions, Budapest | |
| Chuang Chih-yuan | 3 | 3–3 | 50% | Won (3–0) at 2021 WTT Contender, Doha | |
| Liang Jingkun | 3 | 1–3 | 25% | ||
 Hugo Calderano | 3 | 4–1 | 80% | Won (4–1) at 2021 WTT Cup Finals, Singapore | |
| Wang Chuqin | 3 | 2–5 | 29% | Lost (2–4) at 2022 WTT Cup Finals | |
| Jun Mizutani | 4 | 3–0 | 100% | ||
| Truls Möregårdh | 4 | 0–1 | 0% | ||
 Koki Niwa | 5 | 4–1 | 80% | Won (4–3) at 2019 ITTF Men's World Cup | |
| Lin Yun-ju | 5 | 2–0 | 100% | Won (3–1) at 2018 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup | |
| Darko Jorgic | 6 | 2–1 | 66% | ||
 Lee Sang-su | 6 | 3–1 | 75% | Won (4–2) at 2021 WTT Contender, Doha | |
 Wong Chun Ting | 6 | 7–2 | 78% | Won (3–0) at 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships | |
| Marcos Freitas | 7 | 3–2 | 60% | Won (3–1) at 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships | |
| Mattias Falck | 7 | 1-2 | 33% | Lost (1-3) at 2022 WTT Champions, Macao | |
| Jung Young-sik | 7 | 3–1 | 75% | Won (3–0) at 2021 WTT Star Contender, Doha | |
| Kenta Matsudaira | 9 | 0–1 | 0% | Lost (2–4) at 2018 ITTF World Tour Bulgarian Open | |
| Gao Ning | 9 | 1–0 | 100% | ||
| Dang Qiu | 9 | 1-0 | 100% | Won (3-0) at 2022 WTT Champions, Budapest | |
| Jang Woo-jin | 9 | 4–2 | 66% | ||
| Quadri Aruna | 10 | 3-1 | 75% | Lost (0-3) at 2023 WTT Smash, Singapore |