21 Facts About Kasumi Ishikawa

Kasumi Ishikawa was born on 23 February 1993 and is a retired Japanese table tennis player.

Kasumi Ishikawa is a left-handed inverted rubber shakehand player who primarily uses speedy top-spins and loops in offensive play.

Kasumi Ishikawa has a younger sister, Rira, who was a professional table tennis player, while her mother Kumi Ishikawa is her current coach.

Kasumi Ishikawa first got public attention when she managed to defeat high school and even university students much older than her in her first ever All Japan Table Tennis Championships.

Kasumi Ishikawa was nicknamed Ai-Chan II, a comparison to fellow athlete Ai Fukuhara, who started playing table tennis at a young age.

Kasumi Ishikawa entered Shitennoji Habikigaoka Middle School, and then Shitennoji High School in Osaka Prefecture.

Kasumi Ishikawa practiced with all-Japan-Class players until late at night including holidays.

Kasumi Ishikawa's aggressive attacking style coupled with formidable speed were developed there.

Kasumi Ishikawa began working towards the Olympics and played in international tournaments representing her club; ZEN-NOH, Japan.

Kasumi Ishikawa competed at the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships, reaching the quarter-final of the singles competition.

Kasumi Ishikawa quickly rose through the world rankings in recent years and managed to secure a place to compete at the London 2012 Olympics.

Kasumi Ishikawa is currently ranked 6th in the ITTF women's world ranking as of July 2012 but has achieved ranking as high as 5th.

Kasumi Ishikawa is the best female table tennis player in Japan after managing to overtake Ai Fukuhara in rankings.

Kasumi Ishikawa reached the semi-finals of the Women's Singles at the London 2012 Olympics but lost out to eventual gold medal winner; Li Xiaoxia of China.

Kasumi Ishikawa is the first ever Japanese to have reached the semi-finals of the tournament.

At the Women's Team Event semi-finals, Kasumi Ishikawa helped Japan to overcome Singapore by defeating her quarter-finals opponent in the Single's, Wang Yuegu in three straight games.

Kasumi Ishikawa won bronze with the Japanese Olympic team in Rio de Janeiro 2016, beating together with Ai Fukuhara and Mima Ito on her side the team from Singapore.

Kasumi Ishikawa defeated Miyuu Kihara in the semi-finals and Mima Ito in the finals to win the All Japan National Championships in 2021 for the first time in five years.

Kasumi Ishikawa lost in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics to Yu Mengyu of Singapore.

In Japan, Kasumi Ishikawa has ranked among the five "most-liked" sportswomen every year from 2014 to 2020 in surveys published by Oricon, after ranking No 10 in 2013.

Kasumi Ishikawa appeared in the 2017 film Mixed Doubles as herself.