Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto was a revelation in the WTT Star Contender Chennai held at the Nehru Stadium here recently. World ranked 30, Hashimoto put up a masterclass in defensive play by reaching the women’s singles final, losing to Miwa Harimoto of Japan, seeded two.
Unheralded, Hashimoto had earlier shocked the top seed and country-mate Hina Hayata in the round of 16. And in the women’s summit clash against Harimoto, Hashimoto troubled her higher-ranked opponent no end, chopping and cutting with elan. Hashimoto might have lost the final but she won the hearts of those present at the Stadium.
In the interview to The Hindu, the 26-year-old Japanese spoke about the difficulties of being a defensive player at a time when most players are becoming attack-oriented, about her inspirations, and how difficult it is to break into the Japan women’s National team, among other things.
Excerpts of the interview:
How difficult it is to be a defensive player in the times of plastic balls and players are attacking?
It’s become harder to spin the ball, so it’s harder to spin the ball on plastic balls. I think it’s become a little more difficult.
Why are they not many defensive players in men’s and women?
There are fewer players from the beginning, and table tennis is getting faster now, so I think there are more pinching and attacking players, so there are fewer cut-players defensive player.
Who is your inspiration when it comes to defensive players?
There was a player called Ishigaki Yuka, who was on the same team as me when I was young, and she is retired now, but I really respect her, but in terms of playing style, I think it’s the Korean player Joo Se-hyuk, the 2012 Olympic men’s team silver medallist.
The Japanese women team is strong as there are four players in the world’s top 10. How do you plan to get to the National team?
That’s right. There are currently several Japanese players in the top 10, and I think the competition is very intense, so I’m going to work hard to surpass them.
You had a good 2024 reaching two finals & having won one title in the WTT Tour while not playing much this year. What’s the reason?
Well, I only had a limited number of matches, so I fought with the mindset of giving it my all in each match and I think the secret to that is that I kept waiting for the opportunity to take on a challenge.
Published – April 01, 2025 12:58 am IST