At the World Table Tennis Championships held in the United States, a pair of women's doubles Mima Ito and Hina Hayata, and a pair of mixed doubles Tomokazu Harimoto and Hayata both won the semifinals in a full game and the final. I decided to advance.

Women's Doubles Ito / Hayada pair advance to the final

The World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, USA, held the semi-finals of men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles on the 28th.



Of these, in the women's doubles, the same 21-year-old pair of Ito and Hayada played against the Chinese pair at the silver medal of the previous tournament in 2019.



Ito and Hayada scored 5 consecutive points from 6 to 6 in the 4th game, where 2 games were taken first and Ito scored with his own serve and receive. Was taken 11 to 6.



In the final 5th game, Hayada's powerful forehand and Ito's strong RBI hit back with a strong receive, showing each other's characteristics and taking 11 to 7, and the pair of Ito and Hayada has a game count of 3 to 2. And decided to advance to the final for the second consecutive tournament.



As a pair of Japanese players, we will play against a pair of Chinese Wang Man Iku * player and Sun Yingsha who lost in the previous tournament aiming for the gold medal for the first time in 54 years.


* Iku is "standing" under "sun"

Mixed doubles Harimoto-Hayada pair advance to the final

In the mixed doubles semi-finals, Tomokazu Harimoto and Hayada played against a pair of Chinese men and American women.



The pair of opponents, at the World Championships held in Japan in 1971, was triggered by the deepening of exchanges between Chinese and American players, and the United States and China improved relations, which led to the normalization of diplomatic relations thereafter. It has been 50 years since "Diplomatic", and this tournament was specially formed.



The pair of Harimoto and Hayada scored 11 to 9 from 8 to 8 in the first game with Harimoto's strong backhand, and in the second game that followed, he took a big difference of 11 to 1. ..



However, the 3rd and 4th games were taken by the opponent's pair and entangled in the final 5th game.



In this game, Hayada scored points from the beginning by hitting a powerful forehand on a course where it was difficult for the opponent to return, and took 11-2.



The pair of Harimoto and Hayada also won the game with a game count of 3 to 2 and advanced to the final.



In this event, the Japanese pair will advance to the final for four consecutive tournaments, and will face the Chinese pair in the final that will be held from 1:00 pm on the 29th of Japan time.



On the other hand, in the men's doubles semi-final, the pair of Yukiya Uda and Togami Shunsuke lost to the Korean pair with a game count of 1 to 3 and the bronze medal was decided.

Discourse of Japanese players

Mima Ito, who decided to advance to the final of the second consecutive tournament in the women's doubles, said, "I am very happy to be able to defeat the Chinese pair firmly and come to the final. The opponent of the final is also the Chinese pair, so I enjoyed it to the end like myself. I want to take the plunge and play the match. I will win the Chinese pair with Hayada on the stage of tomorrow's final. "



Hina Hayata said, "It was a pair that I had never played against, but I made good use of our strengths and that led to the result. I want to return the regrets of the previous tournament here. In Japan, there is a time difference. Many people are supporting us, so we want to enjoy the finals in our own way and do our best. "



Hayada decided to advance to the final even in mixed doubles, "I'm glad I was able to win the semi-final as a result of discussing how to enter Serve and Receive and where to attack when it comes to the rally. I want to enjoy the match. "



Tomokazu Harimoto, who is paired in mixed doubles, said, "The opponent in the semi-finals was also in good shape and was a strong pair, so I entered the match with the intention of attacking anyway. I'm very happy to be able to win the medal for the first time, and now that I've come this far, I want to aim for the gold medal and win the final. "