Miyu Nagasaki
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Japan
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Japan
Miyu Nagasaki is a female Japanese table tennis player born on 15 June 2002 in Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Nagasaki comes from a famous family and Japanese fans consider her the goddess of the sport because of her trademark smile and cute appearance. Her grandfather coaches table tennis at Kanagawa University and he was among the family members who convinced Nagasaki to pursue table tennis instead of volleyball as she had initially hoped to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
At the ITTF 2019 Japan Open, Nagasaki defeated Zhu Yuling who had been ranked number one in the world in 2017 after winning the ITTF Women's World Cup that took place in Markham, Ontario.
Miyu Nagasaki is a left-handed player who mainly uses the shakehand grip in her matches.
Quick Facts
Biography
Miyu Nagasaki hails from an influential family of prominent people and famous players. Her mother practiced volleyball and her grandfather trained table tennis. Nagasaki started playing table tennis at the age of 5 years after becoming a member of Kishida Club.
She became the champion of the Women’s Bambi in 2010, the Girls’ Club event in 2012 and the Women’s Hope event in 2014 at the All Japan Table Tennis Championships. Her win made her the second player to clinch the Women’s Triple Crown of Cub, Hopes and Bambi.
In 2014, Nagasaki won in the singles event at the 24th East Asian Hopes Table Tennis Championship after overcoming Ahn Yu 3-1. She was the champion in the women’s singles and a finalist with Miyuu Kihara in the doubles event at the 2015 ITTF Junior Circuit Italian Junior and Cadet Open.
Career
In 2015, Miyu Nagasaki won a bronze medal in the Cadet girls’ team with Yuka Minagawa and Maki Shiomi at the Milo Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships that took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was her first time at the Championships.
Also that year, she won in the singles event at the 2015 Slovak Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit after beating Wegrzyn Anna of Poland 3-1 in the final. She had defeated Korzunova Karina of Russia in the quarterfinal and Fang Sih-han of Taiwan in the semifinal.
At the 2015 Hungarian Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Premium Junior Circuit, Miyu Nagasaki and Wong Chin Yau of Hong Kong won in the Cadet girls’ doubles after overcoming Tsai Yu-Chin and Fang Sih-Han of Taiwan 3-0. In the Cadet girls’ singles event, she reached the finals after defeating Wong Chin Yau in the semifinal but lost to Tsai Yu-Chin of Chinese Taipei. The competition was held in Szombathely.
At the 2015 Italian Junior and Cadet Open, Chika Aoki, Nagasaki and Miyuu Kihara lost 3-1 to Belarus in the penultimate round.
During her second year of high school, Miyu Nagasaki was the champion in the singles event at the 2016 National Junior Table Tennis Tournament, the 2016 French Junior and Cadet Open, the 2016 Czech Junior and Cadet Open, the 2016 Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open, and the 2016 Spanish Junior and Cadet Open. She also reached the semifinal but lost to compatriot Yuko Kato at the 2016 Swedish Junior and Cadet Open.
Miyu Nagasaki won a silver medal in the team category and a bronze medal in the doubles event at the 2016 Asian Youth Championships. She also finished second in the team event at the 2017 Asian Youth Championship.
Nagasaki paired up with Kato Miyu to clinch a bronze medal in the women’s doubles at the 2017 World Junior Table Tennis Championships. She reached the finals twice as a member of the Japanese team at the 2017 World Junior Circuit and also won silver and bronze medals at the tournament.
Nagasaki became the champion in the junior women’s singles at the All Japan Table Tennis Championships when she was 16 years old, winning the Cub, Hopes, Bambi and Junior categories. The same year, she finished second with the Japanese team at the 2018 World Team Championship held in Halmstad, Sweden. She won a silver medal in the team category and a bronze medal in the women’s doubles with Satsuki Odo at the 2018 Youth World Championships that took place in Bendigo, Australia.
In 2019, Miyu Nagasaki became the champion in the women’s doubles and in the under-21 singles event at the 2019 Slovenia Open. She also won gold in the doubles category and bronze in the under-21 singles category at the 2019 Croatia Open.
Nagasaki partnered with Kihara Miyuu and won a bronze medal in the women’s doubles at the 2019 Japan Open, 2019 Hong Kong Open and 2019 Australian Open. The duo won gold at the 2019 Austrian Open, reached the final in the doubles category at the 2019 German Open and won gold at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals championship held in Zhengzhou after beating Yang Ha Eun and Jeon Ji Hee of South Korea 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 in the final of the women’s doubles.
Nagasaki won in the singles and doubles categories at the 2019 Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships that took place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, becoming the first Japanese player to win the junior championship after a 16-year reign by China. Although you may not attain the success of Nagasaki, you can still train with the best ping pong robots that are guaranteed to improve your skills and they come with multiple adjustable features.
Miyu won a gold medal in the girls’ singles and in the doubles event with Miyuu Kihara at the 2019 World Junior Table Tennis Championships held in Thailand. It was a huge victory for Japan because Yukiya Uda and Miyuu Kihara also won the mixed doubles title.
Nagasaki won a silver medal three times in a row while representing Kinoshita Abyell Kanagawa in the 2018/2019 season of the Japanese professional T-League.
She finished second in the mixed doubles with Tomokazu Harimoto at the 2010 All Japan Table Tennis Championship and in the doubles category with Miyuu Kihara at the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open after losing 11-4, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 to Zhu Yuling and Wang Manyu of China.
Miyu Nagasaki won the 2021/2022 T-League season with Nissay Red Elf and the doubles category at the WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 with Minami Ando. The Japanese duo also won a bronze medal in doubles at the 2021 Asian Championship and Nagasaki won gold in the team category at the same tournament.
Miyu reached the finals at the Lion Cup Japan Top 32-2022 and won the women’s doubles title with Miyuu Kihara at the WTT Contender Doha 2022 and WTT Star Contender Doha 2022.
In 2022, Nagasaki went back to Kinoshita Abyell Kanagawa after leaving Nissay Red Elf. She was a silver medalist in the women’s singles at the 2022 WTT Contender Lima and a bronze medalist with Harimoto Miwa in the doubles category at the WTT Contender Tunis 2022 held in Salle Omnisport de Radès.
She won a silver medal in the team category at the 2022 World Team Championship.
Achievements
Miyu Nagasaki finished second at the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships and won the singles and doubles titles at the 2019 World Youth Championships. She was the first Japanese to win the singles title in the history of the tournament.
Nagasaki also won a gold medal in the women’s doubles at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals and a silver medal at the 2018 and 2022 World Championships.
Miyu became a champion in the singles and doubles events at the 2019 Asian Youth Championships and the women’s doubles at the World Tour Grand Final.
In 2021, she won a gold medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the women’s doubles at the 2021 Asian Championship.
Playing Style
Nagasaki is often compared to Wang Manyu of China because of her backhand ability. Both players use the shakehand grip technique but Miyu is left-handed and Manyu is right-handed. She is among the younger players in the Japanese team alongside Hitomi Sato and Miyuu Kihara. Table tennis players employ different playing styles and everything from their rackets to their footwear reflects their individual styles. If interested, we have many options for the best table tennis shoes made of premium material and suitable for beginners, intermediate and professional players.
Ranking
As of April 2023, Miyu Nagasaki ITTF world ranking was 35. She achieved her highest global ranking in September 2018 when she was number 34.
ITTF and WTT finals
Nagasaki was a finalist at the 2018 ITTF Challenge Croatia Open and ITTF Challenge Slovenia Open as well as at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Austrian Open, ITTF World Tour German Open and ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.
She won gold at the 2021 WTT Star Contender Doha II, the 2022 WTT Contender Doha, WTT Contender Lima and WTT Star Contender Doha.
She was also the champion of the women’s doubles at the 2023 WTT Star Contender Goa.
Miyu Nagasaki Equipment
Videos
Final Thoughts
Miyu has been successful in the ITTF World Tour and ITTF Challenge Series tournaments, especially in the women’s doubles and team events. She has a notable smile that belies her skills and disarms her opponents. Her family used snacks such as chocolate and candy to motivate her; they would place the snacks on the table for her to eat if she hits them. That is how she practiced serving when she was five years old.
In 2020, the Japanese Olympic Committee presented Miyu Nagasaki with the Best Rookie Award for her outstanding performance. Miyu is among the top 50 table tennis players in the world.