(born 14 April 2000) is a Japanese table tennis player. In 2016, she won the Women's World Cup, becoming the youngest winner in the tournament's history and the first non-Chinese woman to win this tournament. She also won the women's singles title at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships after defeating three top-ranked Chinese players. Hirano competed in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, earning silver medals in the women's team event at both games.
Career 2014–2015 In March 2014, she and Mima Ito won their first doubles title at the ITTF World Tour German Open. They became the youngest ever winners of the doubles competition on the ITTF World Tour. She was part of the Japanese team at the 2014 Asian Games, but lost to China in the final.
In April 2014 she won her second doubles title with Mima Ito at the ITTF World Tour Spanish Open.
In December 2014, she won the doubles title with Mima Ito at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Bangkok. The pair defeated the Singapore pair of Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu in the semi-finals and Poland pair of Katarzyna Grzybowska and Natalia Partyka in the final.
On 5 July 2015, Miu Hirano and Mima Ito won the Women's Doubles title at the ITTF World Tour Korean Open. This was their third doubles title since 2014.
2016 In April 2016, she won her first women's singles title at the ITTF World Tour Polish Open by defeating Yu Mengyu in the final.
On 9 October 2016, in the absence of Chinese players, she seized the opportunity to win the Women's World Cup in Philadelphia. She defeated Mima Ito in the quarterfinals, Feng Tianwei in the semi-finals, and Cheng I-ching in the final. This marked her the youngest Women's World Cup champion and the first non-Chinese player to win the title.
2017
On 22 January 2017, she won the All Japan Championships by defeating Kasumi Ishikawa 4–2 in the final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
On 14 April 2017, she defeated the world No. 1 player, Ding Ning, at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships. The following day, she defeated the world No. 2 Zhu Yuling in the semi-finals and world No. 5 Chen Meng in the final, setting a new record as the youngest-ever winner of the Asian Championships singles event. She became the third non-Chinese player—and the first since Chire Koyama in 1996—to win the title.
At the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships in Düsseldorf, Hirano progressed to the singles semi-finals before losing to Ding Ning. By reaching the final four, she secured a bronze medal, ending a 48-year medal drought for Japan in women's singles since Toshiko Kowada won gold at the 1969 World Championships.
2018–2021 Hirano represented Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the team event, though she did not compete in the singles event. In March, Hirano played in the WTT Doha, but suffered disappointing upsets in both the WTT Contender and WTT Star Contender events, including a loss to Shin Yu-bin in a potential Olympic team preview.
Hirano won silver in the team event at the Tokyo Olympics.
2022–2024 Hirano saw a significant resurgence in the cycle leading to the 2024 Summer Olympics. In July 2023, she won the WTT Contender Zagreb, notably defeating world No. 1 Sun Yingsha in the final. This victory reaffirmed her status as a top-tier threat to the Chinese national team.
At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Hirano competed in both singles and the team event. In the singles competition, she reached the quarterfinals, where she lost a close seven-game match to South Korea's Shin Yu-bin after nearly overcoming a 3–0 deficit. In the women's team event, Hirano, Hina Hayata, and Miwa Harimoto led Japan to its second consecutive Olympic silver medal. Later in 2024, she contributed to Japan's historic gold medal victory in the women's team event at the Asian Championships.
Teams Teams joined in T.League: Nissay Red Elf (2018–2022) Kinoshita Abyell Kanagawa (2022–)
Awards 2016: ITTF Breakthrough Star of the Year
Records World Cup Women's singles the youngest Champion Asian Championship Women's singles the youngest Champion
In popular culture Hirano made her acting debut in the 2018 Fuji TV drama The Confidence Man JP.
Performance timeline +KeyWFSFQF#RRR (W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist, rank added if bronze medal match played; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage(S) singles event; (D) women's doubles event; (T) team event Tournament201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025World ChampionshipsS3RSF3R4R4R2RD2R3RQFTFFOlympic GamesSQFTFFWorld CupSWSF4QF1RQFTFF3rdITTF Finals / WTT FinalsSSF1R1R1R1RQFDWFQFAsian GamesS3RD2RTFFAsian ChampionshipsS4RWQF4R3RDFSFQFTFFFSFWAsian CupSQFSF4QFQFRRYear-end ranking2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420254216116911111422171363
Finals Women's singles ResultYearTournamentOpponentScoreRefRunner-up2014ITTF World Tour, Spanish Open Li Fen1–4Winner2016ITTF World Tour, Polish Open Yu Mengyu4–0Runner-up2016ITTF World Tour, Croatia Open Hitomi Sato1–4Winner2016World Cup Cheng I-ching4–0Winner2017Asian Championships Chen Meng3–0Runner-up2019ITTF World Tour, Czech Open Chen Xingtong3–4Runner-up2019ITTF Challenge Plus, Canada Open Kasumi Ishikawa2–4Runner-up2022WTT Contender Zagreb Mima Ito2–4 Winner2022WTT Feeder Otocec Haruna Ojio4–1Winner2023WTT Contender Zagreb Sun Yingsha4–3Runner-up2026WTT Star Contender Chennai Satsuki Odo0–4Winner2026WTT Contender Almaty Hina Hayata4–1
Women's doubles ResultYearTournamentPartnerOpponentsScoreRefWinner2014ITTF World Tour, German OpenMima Ito Katarzyna Grzybowska / Natalia Partyka3–0Winner2014ITTF World Tour, Spanish OpenMima Ito Liu Jia / Iveta Vacenovská3–22014ITTF World Tour, Korea OpenMima Ito Chen Ke / Wang Manyu0–3Winner2014ITTF World Tour Grand FinalsMima Ito Katarzyna Grzybowska / Natalia Partyka4–0Runner-up2015ITTF World Tour, Spanish OpenMima Ito Ai Fukuhara / Misako Wakamiya2–3Winner2015ITTF World Tour, Korea OpenMima Ito Hina Hayata / Hitomi Sato3–2Runner-up2015Asian ChampionshipsMima Ito Kim Hye-sung / Ri Mi-gyong0–4Runner-up2015ITTF World Tour Grand FinalsMima Ito Ding Ning / Zhu Yuling0–4Winner2017ITTF World Tour, German OpenHina Hayata Chen Szu-yu / Cheng I-ching3–0Runner-up2019ITTF World Tour, Bulgarian OpenSaki Shibata Gu Yuting / Mu Zi0–3Runner-up2019ITTF World Tour, Czech OpenSaki Shibata Gu Yuting / Mu Zi1–3Runner-up2019ITTF World Tour, Swedish OpenKasumi Ishikawa Chen Meng / Ding Ning1–3Runner-up2020ITTF World Tour Platinum, German OpenKasumi Ishikawa Chen Meng / Wang Manyu1–3Winner2020ITTF World Tour, Hungarian OpenKasumi Ishikawa Doo Hoi Kem / Lee Ho Ching3–0Winner2021WTT Contender DohaKasumi Ishikawa Cheng Hsien-tzu / Chen Szu-yu3–0Runner-up2021WTT Star Contender DohaKasumi Ishikawa Shin Yu-bin / Jeon Ji-hee0–3Winner2022WTT Contender AlmatyHina Hayata Choi Hyo-joo / Shin Yu-bin3–0Winner2026WTT Contender AlmatyMiyuu Kihara Syndrela Das / Sutirtha Mukherjee3–0Winner2026WTT Contender PanagyurishteMiyuu Kihara Nicole Arlia / Gaia Monfardini3–0Winner2026WTT Star Contender AstanaMiyuu Kihara Honoka Hashimoto / Adriana Díaz3–1
References
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