Hina Hayata (23) of Nippon Life Insurance has overcome the disappointment of missing out on her first Olympic appearance four years ago and has grown into a female table tennis star. Her southpaw forehand drive is as powerful as any man’s, but she is actually right-handed. We looked into the roots of her table tennis career.

I started playing table tennis when I was 4 years old. I followed my older sister who had started playing earlier and started going to “Ishida Table Tennis N+” in my hometown of Kitakyushu. The first hand I held was my right hand, which is my natural dominant hand. However,…