Mika Tamura (4th year, College of Law) of the Table Tennis Club took home the gold medal in the Women's Singles at Ⅲ International Table Tennis Tournament, Wroclaw 2023 held from November 1 to 7. She also contributed to the Women's Team win.

Men's and women's teams from five European countries and three Asian countries participated in the tournament. In the team competition, four men's and four women's teams were divided into two blocks for league matches, and the top two teams competed in a tournament to determine their ranking. Meanwhile, the singles matches were held in a tournament format.

Four male and female players each participated from Japan. Tamura was invited to the tournament because she was chosen to play at the Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games* in Chengdu, China.
* Postponed until 2023.

In the women's singles, she advanced to the final four by playing coolly and reading the moves of her opponents, all of whom are leading players in their respective countries, and in the semifinals, she faced off against a formidable player from China. The two were deadlocked, but Tamura’s aggressive play enabled her to advance to the finals. With momentum on her side, she grabbed the championship title, defeating another Japanese player in the final match.

In the team competition, Tamura also contributed to the team advancing to the final tournament with her calm, composed performance. In the final match against the Chinese team, the Japanese team won with a strong backhand and was crowned the winner of the team competition.

Tamura, who made her presence known at this international competition, is expected to do even better in her final season at university. We hope everyone will continue to cheer her on.

This was my first win in an international competition, so it really boosted my confidence. The players from other countries played a different style of table tennis than Japanese players, and the other Japanese players who participated were the best-of-the-best of Japan’s student athletes, so I learned a lot from each match. For this reason, I could feel myself growing day by day. I would like to use these experiences, the confidence I have built, and the new things I have learned to work hard every day so that I can show how well I can play to my managers, my coaches, my teachers, my parents, and my teammates who support me on a daily basis.