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From the left, Rina Komokata, Yuria Miyakawa (Rejoice Company), Kasumi Tao (REC Waseda Club Tennis Academy), and Riko Suzuki (NTT Urban Development)

Rina Komokata of the Shimadzu Corporation Tennis Team SHIMADZU Breakers (Corporate Communication Department) represented Japan at the World Deaf Team Tennis Championships 2026, held in Grenoble, France, from July 5 to 12. Japan won the championship with a perfect record, earning back-to-back titles following its victory at the 2023 event in Greece.

This tournament is a national team competition for athletes who are hard of hearing or deaf. The top four teams from the round-robin competition advance to the finals tournament. The winner is decided over a total of three matches: two singles games and one doubles game. Japan, France, Turkey, Germany, Taiwan, and Kenya competed in the tournament. Japan progressed in top position following the round-robin competition. They won 2-1 against Taiwan in the semifinals, and won 2-0 against France in the finals. Komokata appeared in all of the matches, and contributed to the team’s victory.

Komokata said, “Although it was a tense competition, we had good team spirit and were able to enjoy playing until the end. Even when things got tough, we pulled together as a team and came through with the win, which makes me very happy.” At the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, held last year, Komokata won the gold medal in the women’s doubles with Riko Suzuki (NTT Urban Development) and the bronze medal in the singles.