Richard Prause Impressed by 11 Year Old Japanese Wonder-Kid

Tomokazu Harimoto has stolen the spotlight in the past week after the 11 year old Japanese prodigy defeated Omar Assar (World Ranked 43) and Jens Lundqvist (World Ranked 71) at the Safir International Open 2015.

Tomokazu Harimoto, 11 year old Table Tennis Star

Werner Schlager Academy Head Coach Richard Prause had seen the Japanese boy at the Czech Junior and Cadet Open and also saw the match against Lundqvist and seemed fairly impressed, stating Harimoto has "amazing anticipation for his age and really good acceleration."

Prause went on to comment, "He is able to win points not only by good placement or control but also by using the right timing which enables him to play quite fast topspin or flips above the table for a player his age."

Japan certainly have a lot of young potential, with their amazing young doubles combination of Mima Ito and Miu Hirano who made history by winning a World Tour Event at the age of 13. Mima Ito also stunned audiences in her earlier performances at age 12, beating Mathilda Ekholm of Sweden (who was top 50 in the world at the time).

No doubt, promising prospects for Japan who haven't secured a World Championships singles title since 1979 despite having formerly been dominant in the sport.

Richard Prause shares the same sentiment as all of us, "It will be interesting to see his further development, for sure a young boy with great potential and nevertheless still a lot of work to do."

Check out this accurate display of skill by the young Japanese player!