Wikipedia - Vitor Ishiy

Vitor Ishiy (born 22 September 1995) is a Brazilian table tennis player. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2024 Summer Olympics for Brazil.

History

2016–20

At the 2016 Latin American Table Tennis Championships, Ishiy won two gold medals in mixed doubles and team, and two bronzes in singles under-21 and doubles.

At the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships, participating in the mixed doubles together with Kumahara, Ishiy won the 1st round, but were eliminated in the 2nd round.

At the 2017 Pan American Table Tennis Championships, Ishiy won three gold medals in doubles, mixed doubles and team.

At the 2018 South American Games, he won three gold medals in singles, mixed doubles and men's team, and a bronze medal in men's doubles.

At the 2018 Pan American Table Tennis Championships, Ishiy won two gold medals in doubles and team.

Ishiy's biggest individual title was gold at the 2019 Pan American Table Tennis Championships, held in Asunción, Paraguay. At 23 years old, and being 121st in the world rankings, he was not among the big favorites and overcame several traditional opponents from South America. Ishiy beat home player Marcelo Aguirre (54th in the world) in the round of 16, and Colombian Alberto Mino (75th in the world) in the quarterfinals. In the semi-final, he faced his compatriot Gustavo Tsuboi, 28th in the world, where Ishiy ended up losing by two sets to zero, tied the match, lost the fifth set and again managed to draw. The decisive set was very disputed and decided in the end, in favor of Ishiy: 4 to 3 on the scoreboard (6/11, 10/12, 11/6, 11/7, 10/12, 11/3 and 11/9). Just over 70 minutes after the end of the semi-final, he faced Argentine Gastón Alto, another experienced athlete from the World Tour, defeating him by 4 sets to 1, with splits of (9–11, 11–3, 14–12 , 11–4 and 11–7) to win the gold medal. In this competition, he also won a gold together with the Brazilian team.

At the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships, Ishiy participated in the singles draw, being eliminated in the 1st round. In the men's doubles, Thiago Monteiro and Ishiy won the 1st round and played an even match in the 2nd round, but lost the crucial points and the game to the pair Yun-Ju Lin and Tai-Wei Wang, from China Taipei, by 4 sets to 1 (11/5, 9/11, 9/11, 8/11 and 9/11).

2020 Olympic Games

Ishiy was at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he participated in the Brazilian team made up of himself, Hugo Calderano and Gustavo Tsuboi. In the round of 16, they beat Serbia 3–2, but in the quarter-finals they were eliminated by South Korea 3–0. 8th position was the best in the country's history, in this modality.

2021–24

At the 2021 Pan American Table Tennis Championships, Ishiy, 63rd in the world, reached the semifinals where he faced the best table tennis player in the Americas of all time, Hugo Calderano, number 5 in the world at the moment, and ended up being eliminated by 4 sets to 0, however, ending with the individual bronze medal. In the same competition, he won gold in mixed doubles, on the Brazilian team, and a bronze in doubles.

At the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships, Ishiy participated in the singles draw, being eliminated in the 2nd round by Quadri Aruna, who reached the quarter-finals of the competition. He also participated in the men's doubles and mixed doubles, being eliminated in the 1st round of both.

At the 2022 Pan American Table Tennis Championships, Ishiy won two gold medals in mixed doubles and team, and a bronze in doubles.

At the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships, Ishiy and Takahashi participated as No.11 seeds in the mixed doubles competition, where they were eliminated in the 2nd round by the Singaporean pair. Ishiy also participated in the men's doubles together with Eric Jouti, also being eliminated in the 2nd round.

At the 2023 Pan American Table Tennis Championships in Havana, the Brazilian team made up of Ishiy, Hugo Calderano, Eric Jouti and Guilherme Teodoro won gold. With this, Ishiy, Hugo Calderano and Eric Jouti won the place to defend the Brazilian team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In this competition, Ishiy also obtained a silver in the mixed doubles together with Bruna Takahashi. In singles, Ishiy beat Puerto Rican Oscar Birriel 4 sets to 3 in the first round, but later lost to Chilean Nicolas Burgos, 4 sets to 2.

At the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Ishiy won gold for the Brazilian team, and silver in mixed doubles. With this, he obtained a place for the 2024 Summer Olympics in table tennis mixed doubles. Ishiy and Takahashi were ranked 11th in the mixed doubles world rankings at this time. He also won silver in doubles. In singles, Ishiy reached the second round, but was eliminated by Chilean Nicolás Burgos, second-ranked player in the Americas, number 54 in the world at the moment.

In 2024, Ishiy formed a permanent duo with Guilherme Teodoro. They reached the round of 16 of the Singapore Smash and the Saudi Smash. At the WTT Contender in Rio de Janeiro, they reached the semifinals together, obtaining the bronze medal. At the WTT Contender in Mendoza, Argentina, they reached the final, obtaining the silver medal, and reaching the position of 16th best pair in the world.

2024 Olympic Games

At the 2024 Olympic Games, he and Bruna Takahashi were eliminated in the mixed doubles opener by 4 sets to 2. In the singles bracket, he won his first match in the Olympics, defeating Australian world number 38 Nicholas Lum by 4 sets to 0. In the second round, he faced Dimitrij Ovtcharov, two-time Olympic bronze medalist, where he still won a set against the German, but ended up being eliminated by 4 sets to 1. He also participated in the team competition, where Brazil equaled its best ever placing in the Olympics, reaching the quarterfinals.