T.League
The T.League (Japanese: Tリーグ; Romaji: T.Rīgu) or Nojima T.League (Japanese: ノジマTリーグ) is the premier table tennis league of Japan which began in 2018. It is the first professional table tennis league in Japan.[1] There are twelve teams, six each for men and women.
Teams
Men's teams
| Name | Prefecture | Head coach |
|---|---|---|
| T.T Saitama (T.T彩たま) | Saitama Prefecture |  Yuya Mizuno (水野裕哉)
|
| Kinoshita Meister Tokyo (木下マイスター東京) | Tokyo | Wang Kai (王凱)
|
| Kanazawa Port (金沢ポート) | Kanazawa | Akira Saito (西東輝)
|
| Shizuoka Jade (静岡ジェード) | Shizuoka | Masataka Morizono (森薗政崇)
|
| Okayama Rivets (岡山リベッツ) | Okayama Prefecture | Kōsuke Shiraga (白神宏佑)
|
| Ryukyu Asteeda (琉球アスティーダ) | Okinawa Prefecture | Kazuhiro Chang (張一博)
|
Women's teams
| Name | Prefecture | Head coach |
|---|---|---|
| Kinoshita Abyell Kanagawa (木下アビエル神奈川) | Kanagawa Prefecture | Rui Nakazawa (中澤鋭)
|
| Top Otome Pingpongs Nagoya (トップおとめピンポンズ名古屋) | Aichi Prefecture | Misako Wakamiya (若宮三紗子)
|
| Nissay Red Elf (日本生命レッドエルフ) | Osaka Prefecture | Yasukazu Murakami (村上恭和)
|
| Nippon Paint Mallets (日本ペイントマレッツ) | Osaka Prefecture | Yumi Oshima (大嶋由美)
|
| Kyushu Asteeda (九州アスティーダ) | Fukuoka Prefecture | Hidefumi Masuda (増田秀文)
|
| Kyoto Kaguyalyze (京都カグヤライズ) | Kyoto Prefecture | Shuhei Kobayashi (小林修平)
|
Stadiums
Takeda Teva Ocean Arena in Nagoya, Aichi
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka
Format and rules
Each team match features one doubles match and at least three singles matches. If the score after four matches is 2–2, an extra-time, single-game "victory match" will determine the winner.[1] T.League rules differ from international table tennis rules.[2]
| Match 1 | Doubles | Best of 3 | Score starts at 6–6 for the final game Play to 11 points only (i.e. 11–10 wins) for non-final games |
| Match 2 | Singles | Best of 5 | |
| Match 3 | |||
| Match 4 | |||
| "Victory match" | 1 game |
Match 1 players may not play in Match 2. Matches 2, 3, and 4 must feature different players for both teams.[2]
Results
Men's division
| Season | Winner | Runner-up | MVP | Best doubles pair |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–19[3][4] | Tokyo (14W–7L) |
Okayama (12W–9L) |
Season & 2nd half: Jun Mizutani[5] (Tokyo) 1st half: Tomokazu Harimoto[6] (Tokyo) |
Masataka Morizono Jin Ueda (Okayama)
|
| 2019–20 | Tokyo (15W–6L) |
Ryukyu (11W–10L) |
Season & 1st half:  Hou Yingchao[7] (Tokyo)2nd half: Takuya Jin[8] (Saitama) |
Kenta Tazoe Yukiya Uda (Tokyo)[9]
|
| 2020–21 | Ryukyu (15W–6L) |
Tokyo (13W–8L) |
||
| 2021–22 | Tokyo (15W–6L) |
T.T Saitama (10W–11L) |
||
| 2022–23 | Ryukyu (12W–9L) |
Tokyo (13W–8L) |
||
| 2023–24 | Tokyo (15W–5L) |
Okayama (10W–10L) |
Women's division
| Season | Winner | Runner-up | MVP | Best doubles pair |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–19[3][4] | Nissay (18W–3L) |
Kanagawa (13W–8L) |
Season & 1st half: Hina Hayata[6] (Nissay) 2nd half: Kasumi Ishikawa[5] (Kanagawa) |
Chang Chenchen Jiang Hui (Nissay)
|
| 2019–20 | Nissay (14W–7L) |
Kanagawa (13W–8L) |
Season & 2nd half: Sakura Mori (Nissay)[9] 1st half:  Suthasini Sawettabut[7] (Nippon Paint) |
 Yang Ha-eun Rika Suzuki (Nagoya)
|
| 2020–21 | Nissay (13W–8L) |
Kanagawa (17W–4L) |
||
| 2021–22 | Nissay (16W–4L) |
Nippon Paint (14W–6L) |
||
| 2022–23 | Kanagawa (15W–5L) |
Nissay (11W–9L) |
||
| 2023–24 | Nissay (15W–5L) |
Kanagawa (16W–4L) |
References
- ^ a b Nagatsuka, Kaz (October 23, 2018). "T.League primed to kick off inaugural season". The Japan Times. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
- ^ a b "About Tリーグ". T.League (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ a b "ノジマＴリーグ 2018-2019シーズン 順位表". T.League (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ a b "ノジマTリーグ 2018-2019シーズン 優勝 および シーズン表彰 受賞記念グッズ 受注販売開始のお知らせ". T.League (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ a b "「ノジマＴリーグ 2018-2019シーズン後期 ノジマMVP賞」を 男子・水谷隼（KM東京）、女子・石川佳純（KA神奈川）が受賞". T.League (in Japanese). 13 March 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ a b "「ノジマＴリーグ 2018-2019シーズン前期 ノジマMVP賞」を 男子・張本智和（KM東京）、女子・早田ひな（日本生命）が受賞". T.League (in Japanese). 29 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ a b "ノジマＴリーグ 2019-2020シーズン レギュラーシーズン 「ノジマＴリーグ 2019-2020シーズン前期 ノジマMVP賞」を男子・ホウ エイチョウ（KM東京）女子・サウェータブット スターシニー（ニッペM）が受賞". T.League (in Japanese). 23 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ "「ノジマＴリーグ 2019-2020シーズン後期 ノジマMVP賞」を男子・神 巧也（T.T彩たま）、女子・森 さくら（日本生命）が受賞" (in Japanese). 15 May 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ a b "ノジマＴリーグ 2019-2020シーズン リーグ表彰". T.League (in Japanese). 15 May 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
Official site
- Official website (in Japanese)