2017.06.16
Okinawa table tennis team Asteeda advances to top division
Japan Table Tennis League 2017 first semi-annual tournament was held Saturday at Matsue Sogo Taikukan in Shimane Prefecture, where Ryukyu Asteeda, one of the two B division club teams from Okinawa, won the JR Hokkaido team 3-0 in the final game earning them the B division championship and a spot in the top division.
Asteeda ended the tournament with four wins against one loss, and that was enough for them to win the title. The team became the champion in the B division, and was subsequently upgraded to the A division. It is the first time that a team from Okinawa has won a spot in the nation’s top table tennis division.
The tournament this year caught a great deal of attention, as Chiang Hung-Chieh of Taiwan, the husband of Japanese table tennis campion Ai Fukuhara, took part for the first time.
Last year, Asteeda came in the 6th place in the second semi-annual tournament B division, and was in the 3td place in the first tournament.