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Ai Fukuhara, the darling of Japanese table tennis

Ai Fukuhara was born in Sendi, Japan on November 1, 1988. She started playing at the age of 3 and was a professional table tennis player when she was just 10. Her mother, Chiyo Fukuhara, was also a renowned table tennis player in Japan. At the age of 11, Ai Fukuhara became the youngest player to be included in the Japanese national team.

When she was just 14, she finished fifth in the Woman’s World Championships held in Paris, France, in 2003. At the age of 15, Ai Fukuhara participated in the Summer Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece, in 2004. In Japanese language, Ai means ‘love’ and the Japanese table tennis fans simply love her.

In first Olympic Games venture, she reached the round of 16. She had a bye in the first round. In the second round, she overcame Miao Miao of Australia in a thrilling 7-game match, winning 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, and 11-9. In the third round, she defeated Jun Gao of the United States 11-3, 11-6, 11-8, and 11-9. However, in the fourth round, she lost to Kyung Ah Kim of South Korea 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 13-15, and 6-11.
At present, Ai Fukuhara is placed eleventh in the ITTF Women’s World Table Tennis rankings. At the 2002 World Junior Circuit held in Fort Lauder dale, United States, she won the women’s singles title. At the 2003 World Junior Championships in Santiago, Chile, she reached the quarterfinals in the singles event and at the 2004 Junior Championships in Kobe, Japan, she reached the semifinals. She was placed third in the 2005 World Cup in Guangzhou, China.

At the ITTF Pro Tour events, in 2005, she reached the quarterfinals in Harbin, China and in Jeonju, Korea. In 2006, she reached the semifinals in Bayreuth, Germany and the quarterfinals in Doha, Qatar. In 2007, she was the runner-up in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Ai Fukuhara is right handed. She uses reversed rubber on the forehand and short pimples on the backhand of her blade.

One of the most important matches played by Ai Fukuhara was in the semifinals of the Women’s Singles event at the Liebherr German Open in Bayreuth in November 2006. Ai Fukuhara was seeded number four in the event and she was facing number one seed, Li Jia Wei, of Singapore. They had played each other 6 times and both had won 3 matches apiece. In the opening game, Ai Fukuhara attacked from the beginning and jumped to a lead of 6-1 and took the game at 11-7. In the second game also, she led 9-7 but Li Jia Wei leveled at 9-all and then she topspinned the next 2 points into the body of Ai Fukuhara to win the game 11-9.

Ai Fukuhara tried to attack the topspin returns of Li Jia Wei and started making errors. Li Jia Wei won the third game 11-6. In the fourth game, it was 5-all again before Li Jia Wei pulled ahead with her consistency to take the game 11-5. In the fifth game, Li Jia Wei took a lead of 6-5 and extended it to 9-6. However, Ai Fukuhara fought back to level at 9-all. Playing a deliberately composed game, Li Jia Wei took the next 2 points and won the game at 11-9. Li Jia Wei entered the finals and Ai Fukuhara had to be content with a semifinal spot.