Nobuhiko Hasegawa

Who was Nobuhiko Hasegawa?

Nobuhiko Hasegawa was one of the best table tennis players worldwide from 1965 to 1979.

In Stockholm 1967 Nobuhiko Hasegawa won three titles in men's Single, men's team and mixed-double. In 1969 in Munich he won the men's team event against the German team with the result of 5:3. But though he was World Champion at that time he lost against Bernt Jansen and Eberhard Schöler.

Nobuhiko Hasegawa was a famous exponent of heavy topspin forehand attack, combined with lob defence. He used a modified shakehands grip with the index finger pointing down the center of the blade. This made his backhand a little awkward for fast attack, so even though a shakehander his tactics were similar to the Japanese penholders with wonderful footwork. The photo at right shows him making a typical lob or fishing stroke on his backhand.

Nobuhiko Hasegawa, sometimes called 'Popeye' because of his huge right biceps, was born in Seto, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and died in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture.