Shigeo Ito

Shigeo Itō ( Japanese 伊藤繁雄 Itō Shigeo ; born January 21, 1945 in Shūnan , Yamaguchi ) is a former Japanese table tennis player and was one of the best table tennis players in the world in the 1960s and 1970s .

Itō initially played left-handed, but switched his game to the right hand. He held the racket in the Japanese penholder style and played a spin-stressed, time-reduced offensive game.

Shigeo Itō was two-time world champion in Munich in 1969

in men's singles (when he still won 3-2 sets against Eberhard Schöler after a 2-0 set deficit ) and
with the men's team (in which he won together with Nobuhiko Hasegawa and Mitsuru Kōno against the German team ( Eberhard Schöler , Bernt Jansen , Wilfried Lieck ) 5: 3).

In 1971 in Nagoya he was once again runner-up when he surprisingly lost as defending champion in the final against 18-year-old Stellan Bengtsson . What is particularly remarkable about Shigeo Ito is that he achieved his successes without a coach. He developed his technique solely by observing other players and performing his own experiments. He owed his world championship title in 1969 not least to Hikosuke Tamasu, who persuaded him to change tactics during the break after the 3rd set (1: 2 set deficit) in order to avoid Schöler's uncomfortable changes of cut.

societies

Senshu University , Tokyo

successes

Participation in table tennis world championships
- 1969 in Munich
  - 1st place single
  - 1st place with men's team
  - 3rd place doubles (with Mitsuru Kōno )
  - 3rd place mixed doubles (with Toshiko Kowada )
- 1971 in Nagoya
  - 2nd place single
  - 2nd place with men's team

Results from the ITTF database

Association	event	year	place	country	singles	Double	Mixed	team
JPN	Asian Championship TTFA	1970	Nagoya	JPN	Semifinals	gold	Semifinals	1
JPN	Asian Championship TTFA	1968	Jakarta	INA	silver	silver	gold	1
JPN	Asian Championship TTFA	1967	Singapore	SIN		gold		1
JPN	World Championship	1989	Dortmund	FRG	no participants	last 64	last 32
JPN	World Championship	1975	Calcutta	IND	last 128	Semifinals	Semifinals	6th
JPN	World Championship	1971	Nagoya	JPN	silver	Quarter finals	last 16	2
JPN	World Championship	1969	Munich	FRG	gold	Semifinals	Semifinals	1

Individual evidence

↑ Shigeo Itō results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 9, 2011)

Web links

Butterfly legends ( Memento from November 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed September 12, 2014)

personal data
SURNAME	Itō, Shigeo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	伊藤繁雄 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Japanese table tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH	January 21, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH	Shūnan , Japan

[1] Shigeo Itō results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 9, 2011)