Hugo Hoyama (born May 9, 1969) is a retired Brazilian table tennis player of Japanese origin who has won several medals in single, double and team events in the Pan American Games and in the Latin American Championships.[3] He competed in six editions of the Olympic Games in his career, between Barcelona 1992 and London 2012, and seven Pan American Games, from Indianapolis 1987 to Guadalajara 2011.[4] Along with Gustavo Tsuboi and Thiago Monteiro, Hoyama was part of the winning team at the 2007 Pan American Games and 2011 Pan American Games.[3][5]

Hugo Hoyama
Personal information
Born (1969-05-09) May 9, 1969 (age 55)
São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil
Height1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) [1]
Weight68 kg (150 lb) [1]
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  Brazil
Pan American Games[2]
Gold medal – first place 1987 Indianapolis Team
Gold medal – first place 1991 Havana Singles
Gold medal – first place 1991 Havana Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1991 Havana Team
Gold medal – first place 1995 Mar del Plata Singles
Gold medal – first place 1995 Mar del Plata Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1995 Mar del Plata Team
Gold medal – first place 2003 Santo Domingo Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Team
Silver medal – second place 1987 Indianapolis Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Mar del Plata Mixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Winnipeg Team
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Santo Domingo Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Rio de Janeiro Singles
Latin American Championships
Gold medal – first place 1990 Sancti Spiritus Team
Gold medal – first place 1992 Havana Singles
Gold medal – first place 1994 Sancti Spiritus Singles
Gold medal – first place 1994 Sancti Spiritus Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1994 Sancti Spiritus Team
Gold medal – first place 1996 Mexico City Singles
Gold medal – first place 1996 Mexico City Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1998 Mexico City Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2000 Coquimbo Singles
Gold medal – first place 2000 Coquimbo Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2000 Coquimbo Mixed Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2000 Coquimbo Team
Gold medal – first place 2002 Santo Domingo Singles
Gold medal – first place 2002 Santo Domingo Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2002 Santo Domingo Team
Gold medal – first place 2003 El Salvador Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2004 Valvidia Mixed Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2004 Valvidia Team
Gold medal – first place 2005 Punta Del Este Team
Gold medal – first place 2006 Medellin Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2007 Guarulhos Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2007 Guarulhos Team
Gold medal – first place 2008 Santo Domingo Team
Gold medal – first place 2009 San Salvador Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2009 San Salvador Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Cancun Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2010 Cancun Team
Silver medal – second place 1989 Las Tunas Singles
Silver medal – second place 1989 Las Tunas Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1990 Sancti Spiritus Singles
Silver medal – second place 1992 Havana Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1996 Mexico City Team
Silver medal – second place 1998 Mexico City Singles
Silver medal – second place 1998 Mexico City Team
Silver medal – second place 2004 Valvidia Singles
Silver medal – second place 2005 Punta Del Este Mixed Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2006 Medellin Singles
Silver medal – second place 2006 Medellin Team
Silver medal – second place 2009 San Salvador Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Guarulhos Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Cancun Singles
South American Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 B.Aires Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2006 B.Aires Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Medellín Team
Silver medal – second place 2010 Medellín Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2006 B.Aires Singles

Career

edit

Born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Hoyama broke the Brazilian record of most gold medals in the Pan American Games, which used to belong to the Brazilian swimmer Gustavo Borges[6][7] and participated in every Olympic game since debuting as an Olympian at the 1992 Olympic Games[8] and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games, where he plans to retire as an Olympian.[9]

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, reaching the round of 16 and finishing in ninth place in the competition, beating world champion Jorgen Persson of Sweden along the way, Hoyama posted the best result in Brazilian tennis table history at the Olympics. He was only surpassed in 2020 by Hugo Calderano, who reached the quarterfinals.[10]

In 2007, Hoyama was invited by Carlos Nuzman from the Brazilian Olympic Committee to be the flag bearer for Brazil at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara. According to Nuzman, the choice of Hoyama displays support from the committee to all sports that Brazilians play.[11]

Hugo is the founder of the Hugo Hoyama Foundation.[12] Other than his native Portuguese, Hoyama also speaks English, Spanish and Japanese[8]

edit

Hoyama is briefly mentioned in the eighth episode of the fourth season of The Office American TV series. Table tennis plays a major role in the plot and Dwight Schrute says he even has a life-size poster of Hugo Hoyama in his room.[13]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Hoyama profile at UOL
  2. ^ Hugo Hoyama Stats Archived October 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. ITTF.
  3. ^ a b ITTF Database. "HOYAMA, Hugo (BRA)". Archived from the original on October 16, 2012.
  4. ^ COB Profile
  5. ^ UOL Esporte (Pan 2007). "Brasileiros (Tênis de Mesa)".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Hugo Hoyama's Biography and Olympic Records". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 18, 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  7. ^ Ian Marshall (July 25, 2007). "Hugo Hoyama Sets New Brazilian Pan American Record in Rio de Janeiro". ITTF. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  8. ^ a b "Hugo Hoyama Profile". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on June 27, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  9. ^ "Rumo à sexta Olimpíada, Hugo Hoyama projeta despedida e prepara sobrinho como sucessor" (in Portuguese). R7. May 6, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Superado, Hugo Hoyama celebra resultado de Hugo Calderano nas Olimpíadas
  11. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  12. ^ "ESPORTE NA REDE - HUGO HOYAMA (Edição 83)". YouTube. October 13, 2011.
  13. ^ "The Deposition". The Office. Season 4. Episode 12. All of my heroes, are table tennis players. Zoran Primorac, Jan-Ove Waldner, Wang Tao, Jorg Rosskopf and of course Ashraf Helmy. I even have a life-size poster of Hugo Hoyama on my wall. And the first time I left Pennsylvania, was to go to the hall of fame induction ceremony of Andrzej Grubba.
edit