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.