Koki Niwa is a Japanese professional table tennis player who has contributed to many of team Japan’s table tennis triumphs. He was a gold medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympics in the boy’s singles event and the mixed team event with Ayuka Tanioka and won the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in 2010 (doubles) and 2011 (singles). In 2011, he also won Gold in the men’s singles event at the Manama World Junior Table Tennis Championships. Niwa found his breakthrough in 2012 upon defeating Ma Long of China (World Rank no. 1), becoming the first player to be qualified for the 20102 Olympics from the Asian Olympic Qualifiers.

A top competitor, he’s won the U21 title at the 2011 Dortmund Pro Tour German Open and at the 2011 Incheon Pro Tour Korea Open as well as the 2014 Russian Open singles title. Niwa helped Japan win Bronze at the 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Tokyo, winning four out of his five matches. Since then, he’s helped Team Japan win Silver at the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lampur as well as their first Silver in the men’s team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He’s had two prominent playing partners, Kenta Matsudaira from 2008 to 2015 and Maharu Yoshimura since 2016. In 2017, Niwa won Bronze at the ITTF Championships in Wuxi, China and at the World Table Tennis Championships with partner Yoshimura. An incredible table tennis player, Niwa has broken records and made an impressive impact on the table tennis world.