"Veni, vidi, vici," reported Julius Caesar after the Battle of Zela in 47 B.C.E. "I came, I saw, I conquered." Such a succinct summary would certainly be suitable for Miwa Harimoto's current campaign. Until recently she had been best known as the younger sister of teen phenom Tomokazu Harimoto, currently #5 in the men's world rankings at the age of 16. She had shown promise, last year reaching three separate finals in cadet girls (under 15) events. In the Czech Republic town of Hodonin, however, Miwa Harimoto had her breakthrough tournament. Competing in the 2020 ITTF World Junior Circuit Premium Czech Junior and Cadet Open, the 11-year-old from Japan took no prisoners. She first turned heads on Thursday, February 13th by claiming the junior girls' (under 18) singles championship. An impressive enough feat, to go undefeated in matches against older and more experienced girls, was made even more so by her incomprehensible record of 33 games won against only one lost. Her reign of terror continued in the cadet girls' singles, where she claimed another gold in today's final. For good measure, she teamed up with Sachi Aioki to win the cadet girls' doubles gold today, her third medal of such composition. While Harimoto was unable to will her combined Japanese and Norwegian junior girls' team to the title, narrowly losing in the semifinals, she can console herself with her own perfect 8-0 record in the event. The only defeat Harimoto experienced while at the table was in junior girls' doubles, where she and her victorious cadet girls' doubles teammate Sachi Aioki (age 12) were bounced in the quarterfinals by Russia's Vasilisa Danilova (14) and Anastasiia Beresneva (15). In summary, whenever Miwa Harimoto went head-to-head with a single opponent, she won, compiling a 22-0 record in singles competition. With results like these, she is well on her way to emerging from her big brother's shadow and making a name for herself. Two millennia after Caesar's reign, a young empress begins her own campaign.

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