On February 18, Beijing time, Japanese Chinese table tennis player Zhang Benzhihe announced the good news through social media and signed a contract with the world's top brokerage company IMG.
IMG Agency announced the signing of the contract with Zhang Benzhihe through its official website, and commented: "Zhang Benzhi and the players will become the leaders of the Japanese table tennis industry at the Paris Olympic Games and the Los Angeles Olympic Games, and IMG will support the more active Zhang Benzhihe players in various fields." "IMG is one of the most well-known agencies in the world of sports, headquartered in New York, USA, and the top tennis stars such as Sharapova and Li Na, who are familiar to everyone, are members of its umbrella. Gu Ailing and Su Yiming, who became the top in the sports world through this Winter Olympic Games, also signed a brokerage contract with IMG's Chinese subsidiary. In addition, IMG Japan has signed well-known athletes including tennis stars Kei Nishikori, Naomi Osaka, and Winter Olympic champion Fumiyuki Hirano. Tomokazu Jang is the second Japanese table tennis player signed by IMG, and before him it was Ishikawa Yoshijun.
According to people familiar with the matter, IMG threw an olive branch to Zhang Benzhihe in the last Olympic cycle, but the Japan Table Tennis Association did not agree to consider that the Tokyo Olympics would be held on home. After the Tokyo Olympics, Zhang Benzhihe successfully signed a brokerage contract with IMG. However, Zhang Benzhihe not only achieved far less than expected after the Tokyo Olympic Games, but also had a significant blessing in his body shape, which made Japanese public opinion quite dissatisfied, and there were many voices of criticism and accusation. Signing with the world's top brokerage company, Zhang Benzhihe will have more opportunities to sign various endorsements, and there will be a great increase in revenue. However, whether this will affect his training and competition is still unknown, and once his results do not meet expectations, it is not known whether IMG brokerage will continue to support him.