強さを支える“母の愛”　卓球・面手凛選手（山陽学園高）　岡山から五輪メダルへ【岡山・岡山市】 (23/06/19 18:00)

Okayama City is home to a table tennis player who won the National Junior High School Athletic Championships. We interviewed this rising star who will continue on to high school and compete in the table tennis top league. Table tennis involves hitting a plastic ball across a table, competing for points. Mente Rin, a first-year student at Sanyo Gakuen High School, was crowned Japan's top junior high school player in this sport. She won the National Junior High School Athletic Championships in 2022 and became Japan's best. In the spring of 2023, Mente became a high school student and won both the singles and doubles at her first Okayama Prefectural High School Athletic Championships in May, earning her first ticket to the Inter-High School Championships. (Mente Rin, first-year student at Sanyo Gakuen High School) "I'm glad I was able to secure victory in the Inter-High School Championships preliminaries (Okayama Prefectural High School Athletic Championships). I'm glad I was able to play with determination from start to finish." Mente started playing table tennis at the age of three. Influenced by her mother, a table tennis player, she was holding a racket as soon as she could remember. In addition to playing for a local club team, she practiced hard at home with her mother, Yuko, and won her first national championship at the All-Japan Table Tennis Championships in her fourth year of elementary school. (Mente Rin around the time she won the All-Japan Championships in her fourth year of elementary school) "I was so happy to win this year (2017). It's tough, but I'll keep practicing hard and work hard to get stronger." Mente belongs to the Sanyo Gakuen Table Tennis Club, led by coach Tashiro Yudai. This is one of the most prestigious teams in the prefecture, having won the team championship at the Chugoku High School Selection Tournament in 2022. A teammate from middle school had this to say about Mente: (Captain Yamazaki Tomomi, second-year student at Sanyo Gakuen High School) "She's already strong, but she has a desire to improve. She's never satisfied with the status quo, and I think that's what's so amazing about her." What makes Mente unique is her relentless desire to improve and pursue strength. (Mente Rin, first-year student at Sanyo Gakuen High School) "My strength is tenacity. Rallies are my forte." Using her signature backhand, she plays tenacious table tennis, winning long rallies. Another secret to Mente's strength lies in her practice breaks. "(Q: You eat rice balls, don't you?) Yes, I do. (Q: I'm still practicing.) Haha..." Mente, who devotes herself to practice, also has a larger-than-life appetite. She replenishes her energy by eating rice balls made by her mother during her five-minute break every day. Her mother's support remains essential, even as a high school student. The Hokkaido Inter-High School Championships will be held in August. What are Mente's goals as a high school student? (Mente Rin) "I want to do my best to become the best in Japan at the Inter-High School Championships. My biggest goal is to win a medal at the Olympics. I hope to be able to stand on the Olympic stage in a few years." From Okayama to the world. We look forward to seeing Mente's success! Mente has also signed with Kinoshita Aviel Kanagawa of the T League, Japan's top table tennis team, and we look forward to seeing him do well there.