Japan drop table tennis star Mima Ito, could axe Sora Matsushima-Miwa Harimoto partnership

Former Olympic champion Mima Ito has been dropped from Japan’s latest national table tennis squad, replaced by 28-year-old breakthrough player Hitomi Sato, who finished runner-up at the recent WTT China Smash.

Across the border, meanwhile, followers of rival powerhouses China have focused their attention on widely circulated Chinese media reports that the Japan Table Tennis Association plans to dismantle the high-profile mixed-doubles pairing of Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto.

Under the reported plan, Matsushima would step back from multi-event duties to focus exclusively on men’s singles, clearing the way for Miwa to join forces with her older brother Tomokazu to create a potentially formidable combination.

World No 3 Miwa Harimoto was named in the Japan Table Tennis Association (JTTA)’s national team roster for the second half of the 2026 season named on Thursday, with the seven-player women’s squad headlined by the 18-year-old.