Mima Ito

Career

Aside from her intimidating stare and confusing slight stature, there are different highlights of Mima Ito’s career. She started breaking records at the age of 10 when she was the youngest person to win the Japanese senior table tennis championship. At the same age, she won an ITTF Junior Circuit tournament.

At 14, she, along with Miu Hirano, was the youngest-ever winner of a doubles competition at the ITTF World Tour. When she won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics, she was the youngest Olympic table tennis player to win a medal in that category.

In 2021, during the Tokyo Mixed Doubles event, Mima Ito, along with Jun Mizutani, became the first non-Chinese player to gain victory at a table tennis event since 2004. Ito received praise for her aggressive play, as this played an important role in their comeback against the Chinese team. If you want to achieve high results in table tennis too, you should train a lot. Using one of our best table tennis nets will certainly take your game to the next level.

Playing style

Mima Ito is a right-handed player, and her playing style includes a shakehand grip and counter-driver. She is often praised for her one-of-a-kind and constantly changing playing style. Although her style improves often, some of the constants are her unique serve with her Mimo Ito blade, backhand, and the super-quick flat smashes that she makes on the forehand.

Ito makes creative short pips with her short serves, and this causes her opponents to use long serves against her, leading to them yielding the opening. Ito once said that her style is to finish the point in about three shots. Her playing style also includes taking risks and difficult shots, especially when she is behind in points. This is only possible with the best table tennis rubbers.

Many have praised her for how she innovates her style, even during her matches. She quickly improvises to give herself an edge against her opponent. Due to her small stature, she is often underestimated.

Olympic history

The Mima Ito Olympics record is quite impressive. Mima Ito had participated in two Olympics, the first time being when she was 15. This was during Rio 2016, and she won a bronze in the team table tennis match. When she won this match, she became the youngest Olympic table tennis player to get a medal in the category. She also won the match against Feng Tinawei, who was the 4th best in the world at the time.

Four years later, she participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and brought home three medals. These include gold in mixed doubles, silver in women’s teams, and bronze in women’s singles. She was defeated by Sun Yingsha from China, 3-1, in the gold medal match for the women’s team. The same player defeated her in the women’s singles.

Awards and Achievements

One of her highest ranking was 2nd in April 2020. She has a winning record against different top Chinese players, including Liu Shiwen, Qian Tianyi, and Zhu Yuling. In the Qatar Open 2020, she won an impressive 4-0 victory against Ding Ning, the reigning Olympic champion. This was the first time a non-Chinese player won a set against a Chinese player, another sign of her breaking against Chinese dominance2 .

In 2015, when she was 14, she won an award for the Breakthrough Star of the Year at the ITTF. Aside from the Olympics, she has consecutively won Singles titles at the ITTF from 2015 to 2020 during the World Tour, Challenge, and World Tour Platinum. She also won Singles titles at the WTT Contender and Star Contender in 2021 and 2022.

Mima Ito also has a triple crown which she won in 2018. This was the third in the history of the All Japan Table Tennis Championships, and she was the youngest to achieve this.

Net Worth and Income

Mima Ito’s net worth is approximately $1.5 million. It is said that her net worth is between $1 and $5 million as of 2022. She earns a basic salary of $50,000, but it is unknown the type of house and car that she uses.

Social Media

Mima Ito is very active on social media, constantly interacting with her fans. Her Instagram handle is mima ito. She is also on Twitter, and her handle is MSLpN5xiejmc2Ho.

Mima Ito, in popular culture, had a minor role in Mixed Doubles, a 2017 Japanese romantic comedy movie with a tennis theme. She was also in the music video of the song, The World is Smiling at You, by Little Glee Monster, in 2018.

Personal Life

Mima Ito has a private personal life but constantly keeps her fans updated. Although there Mima Ito is not married, it is reported that she has a boyfriend. This is Jun Mizutani3, her mixed doubles partner with whom she won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is currently a retired player.

Also, her mother is Minori Ito, who raised her after her parents divorced. Her mother wrote a book when Ito was 15 called “How to Realize Your Children’s Dreams: 29 Things Every Parent Should Do”. This was a bestseller, and it has a picture of mother and daughter on the front cover.

One of her closest friends is Miu Hirano, as they have been playing as partners since they were 4 and 5. Their ship’s name is Miu Mima.