Photo: MATSUSHIMA Sora (left) and HARIMOTO Miwa (right)/ By ittfworld

All Japan Championship of Hopes, Cub, Bambi division was held from July 26th to 28th.

Many talented boys and girls won the title in the championship between elementary school students who will represent Japan in the next generation. Among them, MATSUSHIMA Sora secured the title for 6 times in a row.

Also, Harimoto Miwa won the championship in Bambi in 2015, the Cub in 2018, and the Hopes in 2019, winning all 3 titles. In 3 of the 6 events for boys and girls, new champions were born, making it clear that Japan still has many talented players.

Boy’s results:

Photo: MATSUSHIMA Sora in Swedish Junior & Cadet Open/ By ittfworld

The champion of the hopes division(6th graders or younger) was MATSUSHIMA Sora. He has accomplished the 6 consecutive victories for the first time after HARIMOTO Tomokazu. He had also won the East Asian Hopes Championship in early July and lost only 1 game in 8 matches in this tournament. Moreover, he participated in the Japan Open in June, showing his overwhelming strength among his age group. He is really a promising player.

For the first time, IWAIDA Shunto won the Cub Division (4th graders or younger), and ONO Fuma won the Bambi Division (2nd graders or younger). Although they are elementary school students, their powerful play and dynamic backhand stood out throughout the tournament with Cub and Bambi’s title in the tournament, IWAIDA is highly expected to win next year’s Hopes title.

Girl’s results:

Photo: HARIMOTO Miwa in China Junior & Cadet Open/ By ittfworld

HARIMOTO Miwa won the Hopes title, and completed the third class of Hopes, Cub, and Bambi. The finals was a repeat of the East Asian Hopes Championship’s finals, but HARIMOTO, who showed a different class of play from elementary school students, beat AOKI Sachi in straight games. In last season’s T-League, she played doubles at the age of 10. HARIMOTO, who has gone through a lot of experience, seems to make further growth.

On the other hand, SATO Nozomi in the Cub division (4th graders or younger), and ISHIDA Kokomi in the Bambi division (2nd graders or younger) won the title respectively, resulting in the birth of new champion. Will there be another girl who will win all the classes following HARIMOTO Miwa in the girl’s tournaments where the strength is so close that no one will win the title in a row? We cannot miss their future growth.

Rallys Editional