Kiyoshi Saitō

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Kiyoshi Saitō ( Japanese 斎 藤 清 , Saitō Kiyoshi ; born September 30, 1962 in Shōnai ) is a Japanese table tennis player with an international career in the 1980s and 1990s. He took part in six world championships and the 1988 Olympics.

Career

At the age of 13, Kiyoshi Saitō began intensively with table tennis. He later formed a training group at Meiji University together with Jūzō Nukazuka and Takehiro Watanabe under the direction of Gorō Shibuya . In 1978 he was middle school master in the age group 13 to 15, in 1981 high school master in singles, doubles and mixed in the age group 16 to 18. From 1982 to 1984 he was three times in a row Japanese university master. He was later trained by Nobuhiko Hasegawa and Shigeo Itō , among others .

Kiyoshi Saitō is left-handed. He prefers an attacking game in which he prepares a final ball with topspins.

From 1982 to 1992, Kiyoshi Saitō won 17 titles at the national Japanese championships , namely eight in singles, four in doubles and five in mixed. From 1983 to 1993 he took part in six world championships , where he was most successful with the team: in 1983 they came in fifth place, in 1985 in four, and in 1987 and 1989 in sixth place. At the Asian Games in 1982 he won silver in the individual and team competition, in the same year he reached the semi-finals in the Asian Championships in the individual and the final in the team competition.

In 1988 he qualified for participation in the Olympic Games . Here he failed both in singles and doubles with Takehiro Watanabe in the group games and thus missed the main round. In his five appearances at the World Cup , he was fourth in 1984 and fifth in 1990 .

In the ITTF world rankings , Kiyoshi Saitō was listed fifth in October 1983.

Kiyoshi Saitō played a lot of competitions, both for the Japanese association and for its sponsor Nissan Motors . This led to overuse and, as a result, problems with his left shoulder that had been affecting him since 1983. In 1993 he ended his international career.

Private

Kiyoshi Saitō is married to the Japanese table tennis player Yoshiko Shimauchi , who won the Japanese singles championship in 1978 and 1981 . The couple have two sons.

literature

  • M. Nishida: Peaceful Atmosphere: Kiyoshi Saito and Family - Die Könner , DTS magazine , 1988/4, pp. 52–53

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Table Tennis News No. 137, October 1983, page 8 Online (accessed on September 2, 2017)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Saitō, Kiyoshi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 斎 藤 清 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese table tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Shōnai (Yamagata)