There were no traits of a crying baby. Instead of shedding tears, which was her trademark in childhood, Ai Fukuhara kept smiling and repeated the words of appreciation as the 29-year-old table tennis icon spoke to the media on Tuesday, two days after announcing her retirement from competition.
¡°I was going to fade out after the announcement on my blog and I never expected this many people would come to see me after a two-year absence from competition,¡± Fukuhara said of more than 100 media members gathered at a Tokyo hotel. ¡°I really appreciate it.¡±
Fukuhara, who started playing table tennis under her mother Chiyo¡¯s guidance at age 3, decided to call it a career after 26 years.
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