Hina Hayata (早田 ひな, Hayata Hina, born 7 July 2000) is a Japanese international table tennis player.[5] She is the most successful player on the ITTF Challenge Series since its inception in 2017.[6] Owing to her stature, she is able to generate more spin on both sides than most female players. She is coached by Daisuka Ishida.[7]

Hina Hayata
Hayata at the 2017 German Open
Personal information
Born (2000-07-07) 7 July 2000 (age 24)
Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan[1]
Height1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[2]
Table tennis career
Playing styleDual winged left-handed attacker
Highest ranking4 (31 October 2023)[3]
Current ranking5 (18 June 2024)
ClubNippon Life Redelf (T.League)[4]
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris Team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Singles
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Halmstad Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Budapest Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2021 Houston Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2021 Houston Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2022 Chengdu Team
Silver medal – second place 2023 Durban Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2024 Busan Team
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Düsseldorf Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Durban Singles
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2018 London Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Chengdu Mixed team
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Hangzhou Singles
Silver medal – second place 2022 Hangzhou Team
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Doha Singles
Gold medal – first place 2021 Doha Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2021 Doha Team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Astana Team
Silver medal – second place 2017 Wuxi Team
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Wuxi Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Pyeongchang Team

Career

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Junior

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Hayata was a member of Japanese girls' team winning gold at the 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships. She also won silver in girls' doubles and mixed doubles.

She won the bronze medal in women's doubles at the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships with Mima Ito. She won several doubles titles in the ITTF World Tour, including the Grand Finals in 2016 and 2018.

2019–2020

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In the ITTF Portugal Open 2019, she caused a major upset by beating 4-time Women's World Cup Champion Liu Shiwen 4–3. She went on to beat another Chinese player Hu Limei before winning the tournament by defeating her compatriot Honoka Hashimoto in the finals.[8]

In January 2020, she won the All Japan Table Tennis Championships for the first time, shocking reigning champion Mima Ito in the semi-finals and then defeating Kasumi Ishikawa in the finals.[9]

2021

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Hayata lost to Mima Ito 4–3 in the 2021 All Japan Table Tennis Championships in the semi-finals. At the WTT Contender Doha, she upset Kasumi Ishikawa[10] and advanced to the finals to once again face Mima Ito.[11] Hayata lost to Ito 4–2 in the finals.[12][13] In the WTT Star Contender Doha event later the same year, Hayata won the women's singles title and the mixed doubles title.

In the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, which was postponed to 2021 due to the global pandemic, Hina Hayata had her first participation at the Olympics, although as reserve player of the japanese women's team. The team secured the silver medal at this event.

At the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships 2021 held in Houston, Hayata joined all three competitions at the first time. In women's singles, Hayata was eliminated in the round of last 16 by Wang Yidi of China by 4:2. Together with Mima Ito, Hayata won silver medals in women's doubles after beating Qian Tianyi/Chen Meng 3:2 in the semi-finals and losing to Sun Yingsha/Wang Manyu 3:0 in the finals. She was also successful in mixed doubles, winning silver medals together with Tomokazu Harimoto.

2022

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In November 2022, Hayata reached the semifinals of the ATTU Cup, losing to Wang Yidi by 4:1. In the bronze medal match, she lost to Manika Batra of India in six games.[14]

2023

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In January 2023, Hayata secured the triple crown at the All Japan Table Tennis Championships by winning the women's singles, women's doubles (with Mima Ito) and mixed doubles (with Tomokazu Harimoto) competitions. This made her the fourth women winning all three titles in the history of this national tournament, following Mima Ito's success from 2019.

In the 2023 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Durban, Hayata played the women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles competitions. In mixed doubles, the pairing Hina Hayata/Tomokazu Harimoto reached the finals after winning the semi-finals 3:1 against Kuai Man/Lin Shidong of China. In the finals they lost 3:0 to the Chinese pairing Sun Yingsha/Wang Chuqin, thus earning a silver medal. In women's singles Hayata reached the semi-finals after winning a thrilling quarterfinal encounter with 4:3 against Wang Yidi, in which she saved nine match points and won game seven by 21:19. In the following semi-finals, she lost 4:1 to World number 1 Sun Yingsha. This was the second women's singles medal for Japan at a WTTC since 1969, successing the bronze medal of compatriot Hirano Miu in 2017. In women's doubles, Hina Hayata and Mima Ito reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to Chen Meng/Wang Yidi with 3:0.

In August, Hayata participated at the WTT Contender Rio de Janeiro, where she won the women's single title by beating Linda Bergstrom of Sweden in the finals by 4:1.

At the 2022 Asian Games held in September 2023 in Hangzhou, Hayata led the japanese women team to win the silver medal. She finished second place after being victorious against Wang Yidi the second time this year, winning 12-10 in the seventh set. In the final, Hayata lost to reigning World Champion and World No.1 Sun Yingsha.

In October 2023, she won the Women's Single title at the WTT Contender Muscat, beating Adriana Diaz 4:0 in the finals.

Controversy

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On 13 August 2024, in an interview upon her return to Japan from the 2024 Summer Olympics, Hayata expressed her desire to visit the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots.[15] Her remarks sparked heated discussions and criticism in China and South Korea, where many believed she was affirming Japanese militarism against China and Korea during World War II.[16][17] The day after her comments, Sun Yingsha and Chinese table tennis player Fan Zhendong unfollowed Hayata on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, while the official Weibo account of the People's Liberation Army posted a message stating that "promoting this so-called 'Peace Hall' will do no good to Japan's future" and "we must be vigilant against the lingering ghost of militarism and prevent the tragedy of history from repeating itself."[18][19] Two days after her remarks, China's national television broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), removed videos of Hayata's matches in the Olympics from its online platform.[20]

Singles titles

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Year Tournament Final opponent Score Ref
2016 ITTF World Tour, Australia Open   Yuka Ishigaki 4–1 [21]
2017 ITTF Challenge, Spanish Open   Jeon Ji-hee 4–3 [22]
2019 ITTF Challenge Plus, Portugal Open   Honoka Hashimoto 4–3 [23]
ITTF Challenge Plus, Oman Open   Cheng I-ching 4–1 [24]
ITTF Challenge, Serbia Open   Minnie Soo 4–1 [25]
ITTF Challenge Plus, Paraguay Open   Honoka Hashimoto 4–2 [26]
ITTF Challenge, Belarus Open   Fan Siqi 4–2 [27]
2021 WTT Star Contender Doha   Doo Hoi Kem 4–1 [28]
Asian Championships   Shin Yu-bin 3–1 [29]
2022 WTT Contender Almaty   Fu Yu 4–1 [30]
2023 WTT Contender Rio de Janeiro   Linda Bergström 4–1 [31]
WTT Contender Muscat   Adriana Diaz 4–0 [32]
WTT Contender Antalya   Han Ying 4–0 [33]
2024 WTT Contender Zagreb   Miwa Harimoto 4–0 [34]
WTT Star Contender Ljubljana   Prithika Pavade 4–0 [35]

References

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  1. ^ "早田 ひなHAYATA Hina". www.jtta.or.jp (in Japanese). 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  2. ^ "早田 ひな Hina Hayata". tleague.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Ranking History". results.ittf.link. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Hina Hayata". tleague.jp. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Profile". Table Tennis Guide.
  6. ^ "Review 2019: Hina Hayata responding to challenges - International Table Tennis Federation". 18 December 2019.
  7. ^ "JTTA National staff". jtta.or.jp. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus, Portugal Open - Results". results.ittf.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020.
  9. ^ "All-Japan National Championships: A Complete Review - International Table Tennis Federation". 29 January 2020.
  10. ^ "WTT Doha Day 2 Recap and Day 3 Preview – Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 4 March 2021. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Mima Ito vs Hina Hayata Finals Preview: A Statistical Approach". edgesandnets.com. 6 March 2021. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Mima Ito Wins WTT Doha Event with 4-2 Finals Win over Hina Hayata". 7 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  13. ^ "How Mima Ito Defeated Hina Hayata at WTT Doha: A Statistical Analysis Revisited". edgesandnets.com. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  14. ^ "ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup 2022: Manika Batra becomes first Indian female paddler to clinch bronze". Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  15. ^ "パリ五輪早田ひな「鹿児島の特攻資料館行きたい」「卓球できること、当たり前じゃない」". The Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 13 August 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  16. ^ "早田希娜奧運後想去神風特攻博物館被罵爆 樊振東孫穎莎取消關注". HK01 (in Chinese). 14 August 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  17. ^ Yoo, Byeong-min (15 August 2024). "올림픽 탁구 동메달 하야타 "가미카제 박물관 가고파" 발언 논란". SBS News (in Korean). Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  18. ^ "卓球の中国人メダリスト、早田ひなのフォロー外す 「特攻資料館」発言との関連示唆". The Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 14 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  19. ^ "钧正平:推崇这个所谓的"和平会馆",对日本的将来绝无好处". Sina Finance (in Chinese). 14 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  20. ^ 懂球帝 (15 August 2024). "央视频下架早田希娜奥运视频,但张本智和的单打、团体比赛仍可回看". QQ (in Chinese). Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Players matches". ittf.com. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Dramatic final, Hina Hayata beats Jeon Jihee to win Spanish title". ittf.com. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  23. ^ "Highlights Final Day: Titles for Liang Jingkun and Hina Hayata, new names announce arrival". ittf.com. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Oman Highlights Final Day: talent shines through". ittf.com. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Highlights: titles for Paul Drinkhall and Hina Hayata". ittf.com. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  26. ^ "Japan supreme in Asuncion, Masataka Morizono and Hina Hayata strike gold". ittf.com. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  27. ^ "Breakthrough for Emmanuel Lebesson, seventh heaven for Hina Hayata". ittf.com. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  28. ^ "WTT Star Contender Doha 2021". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  29. ^ "2021 ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships". ittf.com. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  30. ^ "WTT Contender Almaty 2022". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  31. ^ "WTT Contender Rio de Janeiro 2023". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  32. ^ "WTT Contender Muscat 2023". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  33. ^ "WTT Contender Antalya 2023". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  34. ^ "WTT Contender Zagreb 2024". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  35. ^ "WTT Star Contender Ljubljana 2024". worldtabletennis.com. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
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