Hina Hayata (早田 ひな, Hayata Hina, born 7 July 2000) is a Japanese international table tennis player.[5] She is the most successful player on the ITTF Challenge Series since its inception in 2017.[6] Owing to her stature, she is able to generate more spin on both sides than most female players. She is coached by Daisuka Ishida.[7]
In the ITTF Portugal Open 2019, she caused a major upset by beating 4-time Women's World Cup Champion Liu Shiwen 4–3. She went on to beat another Chinese player Hu Limei before winning the tournament by defeating her compatriot Honoka Hashimoto in the finals.[8]
In January 2020, she won the All Japan Table Tennis Championships for the first time, shocking reigning champion Mima Ito in the semi-finals and then defeating Kasumi Ishikawa in the finals.[9]
2021
Hayata lost to Mima Ito 4–3 in the 2021 All Japan Table Tennis Championships in the semi-finals. At the WTT Contender Doha, she upset Kasumi Ishikawa[10] and advanced to the finals to once again face Mima Ito.[11] Hayata lost to Ito 4–2 in the finals.[12][13] In the WTT Star Contender Doha event later the same year, Hayata won the women's singles title and the mixed doubles title.
In the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, which was postponed to 2021 due to the global pandemic, Hina Hayata had her first participation at the Olympics, although as reserve player of the japanese women's team. The team secured the silver medal at this event.
At the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships 2021 held in Houston, Hayata joined all three competitions at the first time. In women's singles, Hayata was eliminated in the round of last 16 by Wang Yidi of China by 4:2. Together with Mima Ito, Hayata won silver medals in women's doubles after beating Qian Tianyi/Chen Meng 3:2 in the semi-finals and losing to Sun Yingsha/Wang Manyu 3:0 in the finals. She was also successful in mixed doubles, winning silver medals together with Tomokazu Harimoto.
2022
In November 2022, Hayata reached the semifinals of the ATTU Cup, losing to Wang Yidi by 4:1. In the bronze medal match, she lost to Manika Batra of India in six games.[14]
2023
In January 2023, Hayata secured the triple crown at the All Japan Table Tennis Championships by winning the women's singles, women's doubles (with Mima Ito) and mixed doubles (with Tomokazu Harimoto) competitions. This made her the fourth women winning all three titles in the history of this national tournament, following Mima Ito's success from 2019.
In the 2023 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Durban, Hayata played the women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles competitions. In mixed doubles, the pairing Hina Hayata/Tomokazu Harimoto reached the finals after winning the semi-finals 3:1 against Kuai Man/Lin Shidong of China. In the finals they lost 3:0 to the Chinese pairing Sun Yingsha/Wang Chuqin, thus earning a silver medal.
In women's singles Hayata reached the semi-finals after winning a thrilling quarterfinal encounter with 4:3 against Wang Yidi, in which she saved nine match points and won game seven by 21:19. In the following semi-finals, she lost 4:1 to World number 1 Sun Yingsha. This was the second women's singles medal for Japan at a WTTC since 1969, successing the bronze medal of compatriot Hirano Miu in 2017.
In women's doubles, Hina Hayata and Mima Ito reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to Chen Meng/Wang Yidi with 3:0.
In August, Hayata participated at the WTT Contender Rio de Janeiro, where she won the women's single title by beating Linda Bergstrom of Sweden in the finals by 4:1.
At the 2022 Asian Games held in September 2023 in Hangzhou, Hayata led the japanese women team to win the silver medal. She finished second place after being victorious against Wang Yidi the second time this year, winning 12-10 in the seventh set. In the final, Hayata lost to reigning World Champion and World No.1 Sun Yingsha.
In October 2023, she won the Women's Single title at the WTT Contender Muscat, beating Adriana Diaz 4:0 in the finals.
In August 2024, she won the bronze medal for the Table Tennis Women's Singles event of the 2024 Olympics in Paris and as part of the Women's Team for Japan won the silver medal for that event, though she and partner Harimoto lost to Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong of North Korea, the last seeded pair and eventual silver medalists, in the first round of the Mixed Doubles event in an upset defeat.
Controversy
On 13 August 2024, in an interview upon her return to Japan from the 2024 Summer Olympics, Hayata expressed her desire to visit the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots.[15] Her remarks sparked heated discussions and criticism in China and South Korea, where many believed she was affirming Japanese militarismagainst China and Korea during World War II.[16][17] The day after her comments, Sun Yingsha and Chinese table tennis player Fan Zhendong unfollowed Hayata on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, while the official Weibo account of the People's Liberation Army posted a message stating that "promoting this so-called 'Peace Hall' will do no good to Japan's future" and "we must be vigilant against the lingering ghost of militarism and prevent the tragedy of history from repeating itself."[18][19] Two days after her remarks, China's national television broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), removed videos of Hayata's matches in the Olympics from its online platform.[20]
