Japanese superstar Mima Ito has rekindled an unlikely friendship with centenarian table tennis star and former world champion veteran Edna Fletcher.
The pair first met – and played against each other – in 2007 when Mima came to England at the age of six to film a program for Japanese TV.
They faced each other in a match at Great Yarmouth Town Hall, watched by an audience of 100, as described in Table tennis news at the time (see below).
The table tennis prodigy has achieved many great things in her career, including winning the gold medal in mixed doubles with Jun Mizutani at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
But she hasn’t forgotten Edna, so when she turned 100 in September, Mima sent her this beautiful video message.
And after taking part in the WTT Star Contender London, the world number 9 traveled to Great Yarmouth to visit Edna – again with a Japanese TV crew for company – and retraced her steps from all those years ago.
Edna, who won the WS75 gold at the 2002 Veterans World Championships and the WD80 gold with Germany’s Ursula Bihl in 2006, as well as being a three-time European champion, was delighted to meet Mima again.
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