Hiroji Satoh (佐藤 博治, Satō Hiroji, 3 February 1925 – 4 June 2000) was an international table tennis player from Japan.

Hiroji Satoh
Personal information
Full nameSATOH Hiroji
Nationality Japan
Born(1925-02-03)February 3, 1925
DiedJune 4, 2000(2000-06-04) (aged 75)
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  Japan
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1952 Bombay Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1952 Bombay Team
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1953 Tokyo Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1952 Singapore Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1952 Singapore Mixed Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1952 Singapore Team

Table tennis career

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From 1952 to 1953 he won two medals in the singles and team events in the World Table Tennis Championships and four medals in the Asian Table Tennis Championships. Hiroji was the first person to use a sponge on his racket, a common feature of all modern table tennis rackets. Although, at the time it may have seemed as though this technological advancement gave him an unfair advantage, it has truly brought table tennis into the modern age and as the Olympic sport it would become.[1]

He won bronze medal in the team event at the 1952 World Table Tennis Championships[2][3] and a gold medal in the men's singles at the 1952 World Table Tennis Championships.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "SATOH Hiroji (JPN)". ITTF. Archived from the original on 2017-08-18. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  2. ^ Montague, Trevor (2004). A-Z of Sport, pages 699-700. The Bath Press. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
  3. ^ Matthews/Morrison, Peter/Ian (1987). The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records and Results, pages 309-312. Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 0-85112-492-5.
  4. ^ "Table Tennis World Championship medal winners". Sports123.
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