Kasumi Ishikawa

Sport: Table Tennis

Nation: Japan

DOB: February 23, 1993

Career Highlights: A rising star in the world of table tennis, Ishikawa is Japan’s top-ranked player at No. 6 in the world. She will make her Olympic debut at the age of 19, eight years after Japanese teammate and rival Ai Fukuhara made her Olympic debut in Athens at 15. There is reason to believe that Ishikawa can surpass the popular Fukuhara’s achievements after already earning a higher career-best ranking than her countrywoman. Her world championship debut was a success in 2009 as she took advantage of the home crowd in Yokohama and reached the quarterfinals before falling to then-No. 1 Zhang Yining of China. Two years later, Ishikawa fell in the fourth round to another of the Chinese's deep stable of talent, eventual world champion Ding Ning. In doubles, she and Fukuhara lost in the third round at that tournament. But there is even more hope than usual for Ishikawa in London since ITTF restrictions limit two players from each country in the singles event - a welcome ruling for the competition since seven Chinese players were quarterfinalists at last year’s worlds. The young left-hander could benefit the most as she is the world's highest-ranked non-Chinese player.

Olympic History: None