Table tennis players Ai Fukuhara (right) and Chiang Hung-chieh. [Photo/Weibo of Ai Fukuhara]

Japanese table tennis star Ai Fukuhara announced Wednesday her marriage to Chiang Hung-chieh, a fellow table tennis player of Chinese Taipei.

The couple made the announcement at a press conference, saying that they got married on Sept 1 in Tokyo.

Fukuhara thanked her fans for their support and suggested that she would continue her athletic career after her marriage.

"Most female athletes in Japan give up their career after marriage. But Chiang's support makes me feel that I can continue my career even after our marriage," she said, adding that she wants to show the younger generations of Japanese female athletes another option.

The 27-year-old sports star was regarded as a "child prodigy" in table tennis in Japan. She went to China, which dominated the sports for decades, for training at a very young age.

Fukuhara, who can then speak fluent Mandarin, is well known and has huge amount of fans in China too.

The Japanese women's table tennis team led by Fukuhara won a bronze at the Rio Summer Olympics earlier this year.

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