Our Town Inagi 2017: Mr. Rintaro Ogawa

Soft Tennis - Champion in 2 Tournaments

Ogawa, a 6th grader from Inagi Dai 7 Elementary School, won both the individual and team competitions at the 7th East Japan Elementary School Selection Soft Tennis Tournament (July 2017) and also secured victory in the team competition at the 34th All Japan Elementary School Soft Tennis Championship (July 2017).
In May of this year, he was the runner-up at the Tokyo qualifying tournament, which led to his selection as a representative for Tokyo in these two tournaments. Soft tennis primarily focuses on doubles, making teamwork very important. Since the fall of 5th grade, he has been partnering with a teammate, and they make an effort to encourage each other and cheer loudly. In the team competition, he sometimes paired with different partners, but Ogawa was able to face any partner without hesitation, stating, "We have been practicing together for three months in practice matches, so I was able to play seamlessly with anyone I teamed up with."
Ogawa has been playing soft tennis for two years, and his journey began by chance. While staying in Qatar due to his father's job, he participated in a short tennis course accompanying his older sister, where he discovered the joy of tennis. After returning to Japan, he happened to see the practice of the Inagi Junior Soft Tennis Club, which operates in the city, and was drawn to the coach's personality and the seriousness of the members, leading him to decide to join the club. He practices diligently with his friends every day.
Even as he becomes a junior high school student, he plans to continue playing soft tennis in the school's club activities, saying, "As a junior high school student, I will be competing against strong upperclassmen, so I want to do my best to win."
When spring comes, he will be a junior high school student. Let's look forward to Ogawa's future achievements and support him.