Tomokazu Harimoto: From Teen Prodigy to WTT Finals Champion (2026)

Who Is Tomokazu Harimoto?

Tomokazu Harimoto is Japan's leading men's table tennis star, a right-handed attacker born in Sendai in 2003 who became the youngest men's singles winner in ITTF World Tour history at just 14. He has been ranked as high as world No. 2, won an Olympic team bronze at Tokyo 2020 and claimed the WTT Finals title in Hong Kong in 2025.

Harimoto has been famous since childhood. He broke age records at almost every level of the sport, from the World Junior Championships to the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, and he is one of the few players outside China who has stayed in the world's top group for most of the past decade. Fans who search "harimoto" also tend to want two other things: an explanation of his loud on-court shout, and details of the Butterfly blade that carries his name. Both are covered below.

A Table Tennis Family From Sichuan to Sendai

Harimoto was practically born into the sport. Both of his parents were professional players from Sichuan province in China. His mother, Zhang Ling (now Rin Harimoto), played for China at the 1995 World Championships in Tianjin. His father, Zhang Yu (now Yu Harimoto), also played professionally and later became his coach. The family moved to Japan in 1998, five years before he was born.

He was born Zhang Zhihe and held Chinese nationality until 2014, when he was naturalized as a Japanese citizen in fourth grade and the family took the surname Harimoto. According to Table Tennis Teacher's profile, a paddle was first put in his hand at age 2, and he won his age group at the All-Japan Championships at 6, then took the same title six years in a row during elementary school.

His younger sister, Miwa Harimoto, followed the same path and is now one of Japan's leading women players. The two have played mixed doubles together, winning the WTT Contender Tunis mixed title in 2022.

The Youngest-Ever Records

Few players in history have collected age records the way Harimoto did between 2016 and 2018. Wikipedia lists the following, with his exact age at each milestone:

Even before these wins, he had been picked as the youngest Japanese player ever selected for the World Junior Championships in 2015. He did not compete there, because of the November 2015 Paris attacks.

Titles and Medals

Harimoto's senior career splits into two eras: the ITTF World Tour years, when he won as a teenager, and the World Table Tennis era from 2021 onward. If the WTT circuit is new to you, our guide to World Table Tennis explains how its event tiers work.

Major Singles Titles

WTT Finals: Fourth Time Lucky

The season-ending finals were a sore point for years. After winning the old Grand Finals in 2018, Harimoto lost the 2021 WTT Cup Finals to Fan Zhendong, the 2022 WTT Cup Finals to Wang Chuqin and the 2024 WTT Finals in Fukuoka to Wang Chuqin again. In 2025 in Hong Kong he finally won, beating Sweden's Truls Möregårdh 4-2 in the final.

World Championships and World Cup Medals

The one gap in his record is a world or Olympic singles medal, the titles that Chinese players such as Ma Long have dominated for years.

Harimoto at the Olympics

Harimoto has played two Olympic Games, both with mixed emotions.

At his home Games in Tokyo, the 18-year-old was upset in singles, and Japan then lost the team semifinal 3-2 to Germany before winning bronze. In Paris he reached the singles quarterfinals and the team semifinals, but Japan missed the podium. He also won singles and mixed team silver at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. Our guide to table tennis at the Olympics covers the event formats.

World Ranking Peaks

Harimoto first broke into the world's top group as a teenager; Wikipedia notes he was ranked No. 3 in 2018. His career high came in late 2022, when Butterfly reported that he jumped from No. 4 to No. 2 in the rankings behind Fan Zhendong. As of the August 24, 2026 rankings he was world No. 4, which keeps him among the best ping pong players in the world.

Playing Style and the Famous Shout

Harimoto is a right-handed shakehand attacker. Table Tennis Teacher's analysis of his game highlights several traits:

• Close to the table: he takes the ball early, which cuts the reaction time his opponents get.
• Backhand first: his backhand drive and loop are considered his biggest weapons, built on pace more than heavy spin.
• Forehand flick: a sharp, flat attack over the table against short balls.
• The weak spot: the same profile identifies wide balls to his forehand as the area opponents target.

To try a similar close-to-the-table game, start with a solid shakehand grip and plenty of backhand drills.

The "Chorei" Shout

Harimoto is known for loud shouts after winning points. Fans usually write the cry as "Cho!", "Cho-le!" or "Chorei". Table Tennis Teacher describes his shouting as being on another level compared with other players, notes that it has become almost a meme, and says it serves to pump himself up and pressure opponents. Not everyone likes it: comment threads on coaching sites such as PingSkills show a split between fans who love the energy and players who find shouting after every point unsporting. Either way, it has become part of his on-court image.

Tomokazu Harimoto Equipment

Harimoto is sponsored by Butterfly, which has built two signature blades around him. Both use Butterfly's "Innerfiber" design, in which the composite fiber layers sit next to the center ply rather than directly under the outer wood.

Harimoto Tomokazu Innerforce ALC

This is the blade most searchers mean by "harimoto tomokazu innerforce alc". Butterfly's published specs:

Butterfly says the larger head adds power while keeping the stability of an Arylate-Carbon blade.

Harimoto Tomokazu Innerforce Super ALC

The newer Super ALC was developed because Harimoto wanted more powerful shots. It keeps the Innerforce layout but swaps in Super Arylate-Carbon, a densely woven fiber with a retuned Arylate-to-Carbon ratio, and adjusts the plywood. Butterfly quotes him as saying the blade "features a high reaction" and that he feels he "can create a faster shot than before." Butterfly also quotes Miwa Harimoto, who says its stability helps her control shots despite the high bounce.

Rubbers Over the Years

Both signature blades are designed for experienced attackers. Newer players usually improve faster on a slower all-wood frame from our best table tennis blades guide, and you can compare rubbers like Tenergy and Dignics in our best table tennis rubber roundup. For ready-made options from the same brand, see the best Butterfly ping pong paddles.

Harimoto in 2026

Harimoto entered 2026 as the reigning WTT Finals champion. So far this year he has won WTT Champions Yokohama for the second year running, beating South Korea's Oh Jun-sung 4-1 in the final on the same August day that Miwa won the women's title. He was runner-up at the Asian Cup in Haikou (losing 4-2 to Wang Chuqin) and at WTT Europe Smash in Sweden (losing 4-1 to Félix Lebrun), and he helped Japan win team silver at the World Championships in London. He sat at world No. 4 in the late-August rankings.

Fun Facts About Tomokazu Harimoto

• He is a big fan of his hometown baseball team, the Rakuten Eagles, and has thrown out a ceremonial first pitch for them, according to Olympics.com.
• The athlete he most wanted to meet was baseball star Shohei Ohtani.
• His favorite anime is Detective Conan, and he is a keen karaoke singer.
• Olympics.com reported he eats melon almost every day and dislikes carrots.
• In 2022 he announced he would study at Waseda University's School of Human Sciences.
• In January 2024, German legend Timo Boll, then ranked outside the top 150, beat Harimoto on his way to the WTT Contender Doha title.

Frequently Asked Questions