Nobuhiko Hasegawa

Nobuhiko Hasegawa (長谷川 信彦, Hasegawa Nobuhiko, March 5, 1947 – November 7, 2005) was one of the best table tennis players worldwide from 1966 to 1974. During this period he won five gold medals at world championships and two at the Asian Games.

Hasegawa was a famous exponent of heavy topspin forehand attack, combined with lob defence. He used a modified shakehands grip with the index finger pointing down the center of the blade. This made his backhand a little awkward for fast attack, so even though a shakehander his tactics were similar to the Japanese penholders with wonderful footwork.

Hasegawa died while felling trees near his home and was buried under a tree.