Table tennis has lost its oldest living World Champion. Fujie Eguchi, a six-time gold medalist at the World Championships, passed away on May 28. She was 88 years old. Eguchi was born on November 18, 1932 in Nagasaki. At seven, she moved to Osaka and was thus spared the devastation an American nuclear bomb brought to her birthplace in 1945, ending World War II. That same fateful year, the 13-year-old Eguchi picked up table tennis. Playing with the squared penhold racket preferred in Japan, Eguchi remained loyal to her pips-out hardbat when sponge became all the rage in 1952. Her stubbornness proved a fruitful career move, as her relentless forehand attack netted her 16 medals at the World Championships in a dominant run from 1954 to 1959. Eguchi's six gold medals included a women's singles title in 1957 and two mixed doubles titles with Ichiro Ogimura (pictured). Eguchi's three women's team gold medals required repeated clashes with Angelica Rozeanu of Romania, arguably the greatest table tennis player in history. Interviewed only last month, Eguchi considered her triumph over Rozeanu in the 1957 team finals the highlight of her storied career. In 1958, Eguchi married Yoshio Tomita, with whom she won silver in the 1954 mixed doubles event. Retiring from table tennis, the couple had three children. She transitioned to a second career managing a beauty parlor, but returned to the sport to serve on the organizing committee for the 2001 World Championships, held in her adoptive home of Osaka. Eguchi's signature attacking game was at odds with the defensive style favored by women such as Rozeanu who came before her. Furthermore, her stubborn adherence to her pips-out hardbat flew in the face of the sponge mania which consumed the sport in the 1950s. Sticking to her guns, Fujie Eguchi carved out her indelible place in history.

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