Tomokazu Harimoto

(ang. + slo. prevod)

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Basic information

Name: Tomokazu Harimoto (Japanese: 張本智和; birth name Zhang Zhihe).
Born: June 27, 2003, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
Nationality: Japanese (adopted 2014; family is of Chinese origin).
Playing style: Right-handed, shakehand grip, attacking style, closer to the table.
Highest world ranking: #2 (November 22, 2022). Current ranking (week of November 4, 2025): #4.

Early life
Harimoto was born Zhang Zhihe in Sendai, 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 represented the Chinese national table tennis team at the 43rd World Table Tennis Championships in Tianjin at the peak of her career. Her parents moved from China to Japan in 1998. Tomokazu’s younger sister Miwa Harimoto is also a table tennis player.

Harimoto began playing table tennis at the age of two. He needed Japanese citizenship to compete in the All-Japan Championships. As a result, his father and sister also decided to become Japanese citizens. He received Japanese citizenship in 2014 in the fourth grade and officially changed his surname to Harimoto.

In April 2022, Harimoto announced that he would attend the School of Humanities at Waseda University after graduating from Nihon University High School.
Technique and style of play

Style: extremely fast, aggressive “close-to-the-table” attack — hits and starts rotations very quickly (“hit sooner, hit faster”), often with an early hit (hit earlier) and pressure on the opponent so that he does not have time to react. Often plays with a high tempo and intense counter-topspin.
Characteristic moves: strong and precise forehand, sharp aggressive block (“aggressive block”) as an antidote to the opponent’s topspin, quick transition from defense to counterattack and intelligent positioning closer to the table.
Equipment (public statement): uses solutions from the manufacturer Butterfly (also own racket model/line according to the manufacturer’s specification).
Coaching and video analysis often emphasize his importance of fast pace, short strokes and ability to apply high pressure in the early stages of the rally
Most important rankings and achievements (until October 2025)

2016 – World Junior Championship: winner in the individual competition (World Junior Champion).
2017 (August) – Became the youngest winner of the ITTF World Tour (Czech Open) at 14 years and 61 days — this placed him among the global phenomenal talents.
2020 (Played 2021, Tokyo 2020/2021) – Bronze in the men’s team competition at the Olympic Games (Japanese men’s team).
2021 – Silver medal at the World Table Tennis Championships in mixed doubles / important final appearances at WTT events (e.g. WTT Cup Finals).
2022 – Part of the Japanese national team at world team competitions (e.g. bronze at the 2022 World Team Championships).
2024 (October 13, 2024) – Winner of the men’s singles competition at the ITTF Asian Table Tennis Championships (major continental title, defeating a number of strong competitors from the region).
2024 – A series of finalists/high rankings at the WTT/ITTF series (e.g. WTT Finals Fukuoka 2024 — runner-up; WTT Champions Montpellier 2024 — runner-up). Additionally: by mid-2025, he has several tournament victories in the ITTF/WTT/WTTC series on the professional scene and several national titles (Japanese titles in singles and doubles). His career is dynamic — he regularly appears at the WTT Champions/Finals and ITTF series.

Brief Summary / Interpretation

Harimoto is one of the most influential young players of the last decade: a combination of early start, family tradition, exceptional speed and an aggressive, close-table style has made him a constant threat to the best (especially against traditional Chinese players). His biggest milestones include a World Junior title, a record early ITTF-World-Tour success (2017) and a continental title (Asia 2024), in addition to an Olympic team bronze.

Record sources: Wikipedia & Google

(collected and written by: fv)

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