Toshiaki Tanaka (田中 利明, Tanaka Toshiaki, 24 February 1935 – 6 February 1998)[1] was a Japanese international table tennis player.

Toshiaki Tanaka
Toshiaki Tanaka at the 1955 World Championships
Personal information
Nationality Japan
Born(1935-02-24)24 February 1935
Hokkaido, Japan
Died6 February 1998(1998-02-06) (aged 62)
Medal record
Table tennis
Representing  Japan
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1957 Stockholm Singles
Silver medal – second place 1957 Stockholm Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1957 Stockholm Team
Silver medal – second place 1956 Tokyo Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1956 Tokyo Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1956 Tokyo Team
Gold medal – first place 1955 Utrecht Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1955 Utrecht Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 1955 Utrecht Team

Table tennis career

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From 1955 to 1957 he won several medals in singles, doubles, and team events in the World Table Tennis Championships.[2][3][4][5][6]

He also won an English Open title.

The nine World Championship medals included five gold medals; two in the singles at the 1955 World Table Tennis Championships and 1957 World Table Tennis Championships and three in the team event for Japan.[7][8]

Legacy

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After the 1955 World Championships Tanaka became popular in the Netherlands, where on 30 May 1969 Rien van Thoor and Marius van Rijckevorsel established the table tennis club TTV Tanaka in Etten-Leur. The club still exists and never changed its name.[9]

In 1997 Tanaka was inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Tanaka Toshiaki". Nihon jinmei daijiten Plus (in Japanese). Kōdansha. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Profile". Table Tennis Guide.
  3. ^ "Table Tennis World Championship medal winners". Sports123.
  4. ^ TANAKA Toshiaki (JPN). ittf.com
  5. ^ "List of Winners". All About Tennis.
  6. ^ "Men's Singles results" (PDF). International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2012.
  7. ^ Montague, Trevor (2004). A-Z of Sport, pages 699-700. The Bath Press. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
  8. ^ Matthews/Morrison, Peter/Ian (1987). The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records and Results, pages 309-312. Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 0-85112-492-5.
  9. ^ TTV Tanaka News. tanaka.nl. February 2013.