A news report from TBS about Miyu Hirano, an 8-year-old girl from Yamanashi Prefecture who may be Japan’s next great ping pong player:

Hirano gained media attention after competing in the high school 2nd year and below division of the national table tennis competition held in Tokyo last week. In one of her matches, she became the youngest-ever player to defeat a 17-year-old in the competition, breaking the record set by Ai Fukuhara back in 1998 (Fukuhara was 10 at the time).

Miyu comes from a family of table tennis players and she started playing when she was only 3-years-old. She has been a regular participant in national competitions since she was 4, and is viewed as a rising star in the ping pong world　(one magazine called her the “second-coming of Ai-chan”). Last year she was the champion of the “Bambi Division” at the national competition, but this year she challenged herself by attempting to compete against high schoolers.

She hates defeat and would often cry at the conclusion of lost matches. She did not cry when she lost against her second high school-aged opponent, an indication that she may have outgrown that phase. Hirano seems intent on pursuing her ping pong career and has told the press that it is her goal to win a gold medal at the Olympics.

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