Sweet Victory: Tenei Hattori of Mie Green Tennis Club Serves Up Revenge at National Junior High School Tennis Championships

[Hattori (second from the left) smiling with the championship trophy in hand (Suwamachi, Yokkaichi City)]

Hattori Amine, a third-year student at Yokkaichi Municipal Oike Junior High School who belongs to the Mie Green Tennis Club (Nishisakabe-cho, Yokkaichi City), won the women’s singles at the 51st National Junior High School Tennis Championships, held in Toyama Prefecture on August 20 and 21. Hattori and Goto Masataka, a member of the same club, visited Yokkaichi City Hall on September 25 to report the results of the tournament to Mayor Mori Tomohiro and Vice-Chairman Ito Tsuguya of the Yokkaichi City Council.

Mayor Mori greeted Hattori with comments such as, “Congratulations on becoming number one in Japan. That’s amazing.” Hattori’s opponent in the final was a player he had previously faced and lost to, but he still managed to win brilliantly.

“The final was the toughest,” Hattori said, looking back on the tournament. He said he persevered by remembering all the practice he had done. As for his future goals, he said, “I’d like to challenge professional tournaments. I want to win a singles title.”