At the World Table Tennis Championships held in the United States, the mixed doubles final was held, and the pair of Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata lost straight to the Chinese pair and was a silver medal.
At the World Table Tennis Championships held in Houston, USA, the mixed doubles final was held on the 28th, and the pair of 18-year-old Harimoto and 21-year-old Hayada were both 21-year-old China, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha. I played against a pair of players.
The pair of Harimoto and Hayada suffered from the first game, the receive "Chikita" that gives the opponent a unique rotation, and made mistakes and dropped 2 to 11.
The following 2nd game also dropped 5 to 11, and in the 3rd game where there was no more left, he brought it to a close game by accumulating points with Harimoto's backhand, but he could not rewind and dropped 8 to 11. I did.
The pair of Harimoto and Hayada lost the straight with a game count of 0 to 3 and was a silver medal.
This is the fourth consecutive tournament in which the Japanese pair has won medals in this event.
Harimoto "I didn't have one more step"
Tomokazu Harimoto, who won the silver medal, said with regret, "I managed to reach the final, but I was short of one step."
Hayada "It was a silver medal, but a satisfying result"
Hina Hayata said, "I was really happy to be able to play against a pair of Chinese players with Harimoto on the final stage. It was a silver medal, but I think it was a satisfying result."
What is the Harimoto-Hayada pair?
Tomokazu Harimoto is 18 years old from Sendai city.
He started playing table tennis at the age of two with his parents, who were from China and were table tennis players, and has a high-speed backhand that instantly hits back before the ball goes up.
As an ace in the men's team of the Tokyo Olympics, he contributed to winning the bronze medal in Japan.
Hina Hayata is 21 years old from Kitakyushu.
I started playing table tennis at the age of 4 due to my sister's influence, and I have a powerful forehand that makes the best use of my height of 1 meter 67 cm.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Mima Ito and Miu Hirano of the same year were selected as representatives and accompanied as reserve players, and served as training partners for the Japanese national team.
In the international tournament where Harimoto and Hayada participated in a mixed doubles pair, they won the pair of Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito, who won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the quarterfinals, and even in the finals of China. I defeated the pair and won the championship.
This world championship has been paired for the first time in two years since this tournament.
Before the tournament, Mr. Harimoto said, "I am practicing while remembering my old experience, so I hope I can play with two people attacking." Hayada also said, "My power drive and Mr. Harimoto's high-speed table tennis. I've been practicing how to make the best use of it. "