Although 12-year-old Rizumu Ono of the Philippines lost a six-game thriller to six-time Olympian Olufunke Oshonaike of Nigeria, she has shown to the world that she has the potential to grow into one of the top players in future world championships.

Ono, born to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother, was defeated by the 41-year-old Oshonaike, 15-13, 11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 6-11, 12-10, on the women’s single qualifications stage.

“I want to be at the level that Ai Fukuhara, Mima Ito and Miu Hirano are at,” said Ono, referring to Japan’s top three players. “I watch them play all the time and really want to improve my game and follow in their footsteps.”

Ono was born on October 9, 2004. She has all the Japanese table tennis genes in her; her father is a Japanese reporter and mother is a former Filipino national table tennis player. Ono took up the sport at the age of 3 and has been training full time ever since.

Ono is a dual citizen, but lives and trains in Saitama, near Tokyo, Japan. She chose to play for the Philippines, because she could take part in such a prestigious event playing for the country.

“I love attacking, I am aggressive and that is how I would like my style to continue further. I have to choose one nationality once I turn 20 as per the official requirements, but I have a long way to go before that,” she said.

Oshonaike spoke highly of the youngster after the match.

“I must admit that I have never been so nervous like this in my life, particularly playing against a young girl who is not even older than my first son who is 14. I was so scared because she is so talented that even before the match, I could not sleep well. I knew that if I don’t beat her I won’t be able to make it out of the group,” Oshonaike remarked.

“I must tell you that I was really scared wondering what I will tell Nigerians back home, that a 12 year-old girl beat me without them knowing that the girl is more talented than her age might suggest,” added Oshonaike, who has won a total of 12 medals at the All-Africa Games.

Ono, fighting till the last breath and putting in her all, was nervous as well. She said, “It’s my first world championship and I was so nervous. I played well, but eventually lost. It was fun playing against Oshonaike, but I really hope to do well in the future.” (Xinhua)