Short bio and achievements

Honoka Hashimoto (born 5 July 1998 in Aichi, Japan) is a right‑handed defensive player using shakehand grip. She has been a regular member of the Japanese national team and won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships in women’s doubles.

Her highest world ranking is no. 10 in women’s singles, a position she still holds in late 2025 after a strong run of WTT results. She has won multiple ITTF/WTT titles, including WTT Contender events in Taiyuan, Lagos and Almaty in 2025, plus several Challenge and Feeder titles earlier in her career.

Playing style and material

Hashimoto is a classical-modern defender who combines heavy backspin defence with sudden counterattacks. She defends primarily on the backhand side with medium pips (Nittaku DO Knuckle), which give her great control and disruptive effects while still allowing strong counter‑hits and attacking shots.

On the forehand she uses a tacky offensive rubber (reported setups include DHS Hurricane 3 National on a Nittaku Goriki‑type blade), enabling very heavy chops from distance and powerful forehand attacks when she turns defence into offence. [8][9] Her game is built around precise footwork, extreme consistency under pressure and intelligent changes of spin, depth and tempo.

Role among modern defenders

Hashimoto is widely regarded as one of the most complete modern defenders of her generation. Compared to many classic choppers she plays more proactively, often controlling rallies with well‑placed chops and then finishing the point with sudden forehand attacks or backhand counters with the pips.