Kasumi Ishikawa

Kasumi Ishikawa
File:Kasumi Ishikawa at 2007 Volkswagen Open Japan.jpg Ishikawa at 2007 Volkswagen Open Japan
Personal information
Nationality	Japan
Born	(1993-02-23) February 23, 1993
Height	1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight	51 kg (112 lb; 8.0 st)
Table tennis career
Playing style	Left-handed, shakehand grip
Highest ranking	5 (June 2012)
Medal record Women's table tennis Representing Japan World Championships 2010 Moscow Team 2008 Guangzhou Team

Kasumi Ishikawa (石川 佳純, Ishikawa Kasumi) (born February 23, 1993 in Yamaguchi) is a female Japanese table tennis player. She has a sister; Rira Ishikawa. Her ambition was to be able to play in the Olympics. This dream of hers began when she was a little girl revealed upon graduation from Hirakawa Primary School in Yamaguchi, which she attended. She wrote in the yearbook of her dream to play in the Olympics. She got public attention when she managed to defeat high school and even university students in her first ever All Japan Table Tennis Championships. Since 2007, she has won the All Japan Table Tennis Championships - female junior division four years in a row. She was also nicknamed Ai-Chan II a comparison to fellow country athlete Ai Fukuhara who also started playing Table Tennis at a young age. She models her underspeed serve after her.

Her talent for table tennis was due partly to her parents, both former table tennis players, who gave Ishikawa special training since young. Her mother, Kumi Ishikawa had also played on the national level. In the autumn of her first year of primary school, a special practice area in their house was erected to help her train more seriously. After graduating from primary school, Ishikawa decided to live away from home and devote her life to her table tennis career. She entered Shitennoji Habikigaoka Middle School and then Shitennoji High School in Osaka Prefecture. She practiced with all-Japan-Class players until late at night including holidays. Her aggressive attacking style coupled with formidable speed were hence developed. She began working towards the Olympics and played in international tournaments representing her club; ZEN-NOH, Japan.

She competed at the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships, reaching the quarter final of the singles competition. In 2011, she won the national singles title at the age of 17. She quickly rose through the world rankings in recent years and managed to secure a place to compete at the London 2012 Olympics. She is currently ranked 6th in the ITTF women's world ranking as of July 2012 but had achieved ranking as high as 5th. She is now the best female table tennis player in Japan managing to overtake Ai Fukuhara.

She reached the semi-finals of the Women's Singles at the London 2012 Olympics but lost out to eventual gold medal winner; Li Xiaoxia of China. In the bronze medal play-off, she lost out to eventual winner; Feng Tianwei of Singapore. She finished an overall 4th position. This was her first ever Olympics participation and despite her tender age of 19, she was seeded no. 4 at the Women's Singles Event. She was also the first ever Japanese to have reached the semi-finals of the tournament.

Career records

Singles (as of March 6, 2012)

• Asian Cup: 3rd (2007).
• World Championships: QF (2009).
• World Tour winner (2): Morocco Open 2010, Chile Open 2011.
• World Tour Grand Finals: QF (2011).
• Asian Championships: QF (2012).
• Table tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics: 4th (2012).

Women's Doubles

• World Championships: round of 16 (2011).
• Pro Tour winner (5): Morocco Open 2009; German, Morocco, Hungarian Open 2010; Chile Open 2011.
• Pro Tour Grand Finals: runner-up (2011).
• Asian Games: SF (2010).

Mixed Doubles

• World Championships: round of 16 (2011).
• Asian Games: SF (2010).
• Asian Championships: QF (2009).

Team

• World Championships: 3rd (2008, 10).
• World Team Cup: 2nd (2011); 3rd (2009, 10).