SINGAPORE – Tomokazu Harimoto knows all about the pressure of being a table tennis prodigy.
Still just 20, the young Japanese’s expectations have grown along with his list of accolades, which include a bronze in the team event at the Tokyo Olympics.
With his 15-year-old sister Miwa entering the spotlight, world No. 9 Tomokazu now finds himself in the role of a supportive older brother.
Both have been called up to Japan’s squad for the Paris Olympics and, ahead of her first appearance at the quadrennial Games, Tomokazu already has some advice for his sister on handling the pressures at this level.
“Don’t think too much, just play. The Olympics come once every four years but it’s just a normal match, it won’t be different just because it’s the Olympics,” Tomokazu told Miwa while both were doing an interview during this week’s Singapore Smash.
“The opponent and environment are still the same. Don’t think just because it’s the Olympics, you have to win a medal. Just go in with your usual mindset.”
These words will surely stick with Miwa, who described making it to the Olympics as “nothing but a dream” and has been inspired by her brother’s exploits.
She also had some concern for Tomokazu, who is gunning for the singles title after a last-16 exit in Tokyo, saying: “My brother is going to compete in three events. I hope he doesn’t get injured and takes care of his body.”
In February, she secured the final spot on the women’s team for Paris 2024 ahead of Mima Ito, who claimed a gold, silver and bronze medal at the Tokyo Games. Coincidentally, Ito herself was a former prodigy and competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics as a 15-year-old.
The Harimoto siblings were born in Sendai, a city in the Miyagi prefecture, to Zhang Yu and Zhang Ling, originally from Sichuan province. Zhang Yu was a China youth national player while Zhang Ling represented China at the 1995 world championships in Tianjin.
Zhang Yu moved to Japan in 1998 as a coach and settled in Sendai. In 2014, the family became Japanese citizens and changed their surnames to Harimoto.
Unsurprisingly, the parents’ influence rubbed off on Tomokazu as he began playing table tennis when he was two and Miwa followed suit.
Both showed signs of their talent at a young age. Tomokazu became the youngest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals champion at 15 years and 172 days and is also the youngest men’s singles winner on the ITTF World Tour.
It did not take long before Miwa started making her own headlines as she rapidly ascended the world rankings from March to May 2022, shooting up 553 places from 624 to 71. She is now ranked 17th and, while she has yet to win a senior ITTF title, she captured the women’s singles title at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Tunis in 2023.
At the Singapore Smash, Tomokazu lost 3-2 (9-11, 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8) in the men’s singles round of 16 on March 14 to China’s Liang Jingkun. His sister also fell at the same stage, losing 3-0 (11-2, 12-10, 11-8) to women’s defending champion Sun Yingsha of China.
There is friendly competition between the duo that drives them to be better, with Miwa saying: “Because I’m compared to my brother who has a better set of results, for me it’s the mentality of not losing to the brother and I will work hard to achieve that.”
She is eyeing a medal at the Olympics and also hoping to compete with her brother, who usually partners Hina Hayata, in the mixed doubles one day.
On the rare occasion the Harimotos have linked up, they have been successful, as when they won the WTT Contender Tunis in 2022.
Miwa said: “When I played mixed doubles with my brother once, I felt it was the first and last time I would be playing with him.
“At that time, it motivated me to work harder so that I could play with him in the future.”
