Huge upsets as Japan dominates 2013 Japan Open

World number 188 Masato SHIONO has caused one of the biggest upsets in table tennis history by winning the $200,000 GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour – Japan Open in Yokohama, Japan, adding to the tally of gold for Team Japan. SHIONO, who had to pay hi,

World number 188 Masato SHIONO has caused one of the biggest upsets in table tennis history by winning the $200,000 GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour – Japan Open in Yokohama, Japan, adding to the tally of gold for Team Japan. SHIONO, who had to pay his own entry fees to participate, beat three top 30 players, including world number 6 and Doubles World Champion CHUANG Chih-Yuan (TPE), on his way to clinching his first ever title.

Furthermore, it is the first time that two players, in what is now the 18th year of the ITTF World Tour, have negotiated the qualification stage and have proceeded to reach the final of a Men’s Singles event; the first time two non-seeded players have progressed to the gold medal match.

The 27 year-old defender stated after beating XU Chenhao (CHN), who was playing in his first World Tour Event, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 in the final: “I was so surprised to win the event, because I have never won a title in Japan before, let alone an event of this size. Playing in front of all these people and being live on national TV in Japan is a dream for me, I can’t believe it. I even had to pay the entry fees. I am going to enter the US Open in July and try to prove that this was not a fluke and I really belong on the world stage.”

Before SHIONO’s heroics, the crowd was treated to national hero and Olympic silver medalist Ai FUKUHARA, who was also made a wax sculpture of herself at Tokyo airport, winning her first Super Series World Tour title in front of a capacity crowd at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium.

The World number 15 beat two highly rated Chinese opponents on the way to the final before eventually overcoming MOON Hyunjung (KOR) 11-7, 11-5, 13-11, 11-8 to clinch an emotional title.

“This is the first time I won the Japan Open, an event which is very special to me. I am very happy to win such a big event in front of so many people. The reason that I won today was the spectators, especially the ones that have followed my whole career.”

A red card for FUKUHARA’s coach for giving her advice during points only motivated her more to claim victory. “After my coach was dismissed, I became more focused. I played without fear and showed my passion which led me to the gold.”

Jin UEDA and Maharu YOSHIMURA completed the golden hat trick for Japan by shocking their higher ranked and more fancied teammates Kenta MATSUDAIRA and Koki NIWA 7-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.

“We are glad, but very shocked,” said the dynamic duo.“This is the first time we have been paired and we were not confident at all going into the final, as we were playing such strong opponents. Our combination ended up working well as we covered each other’s mistakes. We had nothing to lose and no pressure which helped us a lot.”

 

 

Related News

Belgium Open 2025 Set for Pepinster in November

The Belgium Open 2025, an official ETTU event, will take place from Monday, 10th November to Thursday, 13th November 2025 at the Hall Sportif du Paire in Pepinster (Verviers). The...

Read more

ETTU Champions League Women: Draw Sets Stage 2 Groups

The ETTU Champions League Women has reached Stage 2, following the opening phase tournament in Novi Sad. Today, the draw for Stage 2 was held in Luxembourg. In Serbia, four...

Read more

Reigning champions 1. FC Saarbrücken TT to face Dojlidy Białystok in Round of 16

The draw for the Round of 16 of the ETTU Champions League was held today in Luxembourg. The top eight clubs, who were exempt from the Group Stage, joined the...

Read more

ETTU President MOURA at the European Universities TT Championships

The 13th European Universities Table Tennis Championship, staged from 11 to 16 September 2025 at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ), welcomed ETTU President Pedro MOURA, who was present at...

Read more

Contact

About Us

Privacy Policy

Terms and Conditions

The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe, and is the only authority recognized for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level, including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations, and the organization of continental table tennis competitions, including the European Championships.

Powered By

All Competitions

Senior Competitions

Club Competitions

Youth Competitions

More Competitions