Ai FUKUHARA

Ai Fukuhara

Age: 27  

Height: 1.55m    

Country: Japan    

Right-handed: (Shakehand grip)    

Ranking Points: 3014

World Ranking: 10th

– photo kindly provided by Holger Straede (foto.straede.de)

Ai Fukuhara started playing table tennis at just the age of 3 and she became a member of the Japanese national team at 11, hence the nickname “child prodigy”. She became the youngest-ever female table tennis player in Olympic history when she played at the 2004 games aged 15 years and 287 days and she went on to reach the quarter-finals. Fukuhara also had the honour of being the national flag-bearer for her country at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.