Japanese table tennis players Ai Fukuhara, Kasumi Ishikawa and Sayaka Hirano in Japanese World Table Tennis Magazine. The trio became national darlings after winning Japan’s first ever table tennis silver medal at the Olympic Games in August.
Ai Fukuhara
Five-year-old Ai Fukuhara on TV
Video of Japanese ping pong star Ai Fukuhara on a TV show when she was five.
Affectionately known as Ai-chan, the prodigy became a national team player at 11 and has been one of the most popular Japanese sportswomen ever since.
She’s one of the members of the Japanese trio who won the silver medal (team event) at the London Olympics last month (she’s now 24-year-old).