is a Japanese table tennis player.
Career highlights In 2019, Kihara upset world No. 9 Miu Hirano and became the youngest finalist in singles at the All Japan National Championships. In May, at the age of 14 years and 278 days, Kihara won both the women's singles and doubles (with Miyu Nagasaki) at the Croatia Open. She was the youngest ever to win an international open tournament since the ITTF World Tour began in 1996. Kihara and Nagasaki continued to capture doubles titles, including the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in December.
Kihara advanced to the semifinals at WTT inaugural event, the WTT Contender Doha 2021, before losing to Hina Hayata. In 2022, Kihara won the singles title at WTT Star Contender Doha by defeating Han Ying in the final. She became a member of the Japanese women's team, winning silver at the 2022 World Team Championships. She also claimed the U-19 singles title at the ITTF World Youth Championships.
Finals Women's singles ResultYear Tournament Opponent ScoreRefWinner2019ITTF Challenge, Croatia Open Miyu Kato4–3Winner2022WTT Star Contender Doha Han Ying4–3Runner-up2025WTT Star Contender Doha Kuai Man0–4Runner-up2025WTT Star Contender Ljubljana Miyu Nagasaki1–4Winner2025WTT Star Contender Muscat Joo Cheon-hui4–1Winner2026WTT Star Contender Astana Hitomi Sato4–3
Women's doubles ResultYear Tournament Partner Opponents ScoreRefRunner-up2018ITTF Challenge, Slovenia OpenMiyu Nagasaki Ng Wing Nam / Minnie Soo1–3Winner2019ITTF Challenge, Slovenia Open Satsuki Odo / Saki Shibata3–0Winner2019ITTF Challenge, Croatia Open Honoka Hashimoto / Hitomi Sato3–2Runner-up2019ITTF World Tour, German Open Jeon Ji-hee / Yang Ha-eun1–3Winner2019ITTF World Tour, Austrian Open Chen Szu-yu / Cheng Hsien-tzu3–2Winner2019ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Jeon Ji-hee / Yang Ha-eun3–0Winner2022WTT Contender Doha Chen Szu-yu / Huang Yi-hua3–0Winner2022WTT Star Contender Doha Li Yu-jhun / Cheng I-ching3–0Runner-up2023WTT Contender TunisMiwa Harimoto Sutirtha Mukherjee / Ayhika Mukherjee1–3Runner-up2023WTT FinalsMiyu Nagasaki Wang Manyu / Sun Yingsha1–3Winner2024WTT Star Contender Ljubljana Jeon Ji-hee / Joo Cheon-hui3–1Runner-up2024Asian ChampionshipsMiwa Harimoto Satsuki Odo / Sakura Yokoi2–3Winner2025WTT Star Contender Chennai Shin Yu-bin / Ryu Han-na3–2Winner2025WTT Contender Tunis Satsuki Odo / Sakura Yokoi3–1Winner2026WTT Contender AlmatyMiu Hirano Syndrela Das / Sutirtha Mukherjee3–0Winner2026WTT Contender Panagyurishte Nicole Arlia / Gaia Monfardini3–0Winner2026WTT Star Contender Astana Honoka Hashimoto / Adriana Díaz3–1
Mixed doubles ResultYear Tournament Partner Opponents ScoreRefWinner2026WTT Contender SkopjeHiromu Kobayashi Esteban Dorr / Adriana Díaz3–0Runner-up2026WTT Star Contender Astana Chen Junsong / Wang Yidi0–3
References