Japanese Women’s National Team Wins World Deaf Team Tennis Championships 2026
In July 2026, the Japanese women’s national team won the World Deaf Team Tennis Championships 2026 held in Grenoble, France. The Japanese team went undefeated to win the championship, marking their second consecutive title after the 2023 event in Greece.
Rina Komokata (Corporate Communication Department), a member of Shimadzu Corporation's tennis team, the SHIMADZU Breakers, also competed in every match as a member of the Japanese national team and, as the team's ace, played a major role in leading the team to victory.
The victorious Japanese women’s national team. Komokata is on the far left
Japanese Women's National Team Wins Impressive Back-to-Back Titles
The World Deaf Team Tennis Championships is a national team competition for deaf or hard-of-hearing athletes. Teams compete in a total of three matches—two singles matches and one doubles match—and the top four teams in the round-robin stage advance to the knockout stage. The women's division of this tournament featured teams from Japan, France, Turkey, Germany, Taiwan, and Kenya.
Japan finished first in the round-robin stage and won 2-1 against Taiwan in the semifinals. In the final, they defeated host nation France 2-0 to win the championship. The team continued to demonstrate its strength throughout the tournament and claimed its second consecutive world title. Komokata competed in every match and led the team as a key player for the Japanese national team.
A commemorative photo with players from the host nation, France. Komokata is second from the right
Komokata Continues to Grow on the World Stage
At the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, Komokata won the gold medal in the women’s doubles and the bronze medal in women’s singles. At this year's World Deaf Team Tennis Championships, she drew on that experience to play a key role in helping the Japanese national team retain its title.
The Japanese men’s and women’s national team players who competed in the World Deaf Team Tennis Championships
In deaf tennis, players remove their hearing aids or cochlear implants during matches, and therefore rely entirely on visual cues, such as the movement of the ball and their opponent’s actions, to play the game.
Despite these conditions, Komokata continues to compete at the highest level internationally and is one of Japan’s leading deaf tennis players.
In addition, while engaging in internal communication work, Komokata continues to compete as a member of the SHIMADZU Breakers. Her ability to balance work and competition while excelling on the world stage serves as a source of inspiration and encouragement to many of her colleagues.
Comment from Komokata
With a second consecutive title on the line, there was more pressure, but we enjoyed the unique atmosphere of team competition, and both the men's and women's teams were able to demonstrate their unity. Although we faced some tough matches, we fought together as a team and ultimately secured our second consecutive title, which made me very happy. I believe that by delivering good results to everyone who has supported me, I was able to give something back, even if only a little. The individual World Championships are being held next year, so I will continue training hard to be in my best shape when the competition begins.
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