In the badminton Japan Open, the mixed doubles pair of Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino, who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, advanced to the final, but were defeated by the Thai pair, who ranked first in the world, and finished second.
The finals of each event are being held on the 4th at the international badminton tournament "Japan Open" held in Osaka for the first time in three years.
Of these, in the mixed doubles, the pair of Watanabe and Higashino, who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer and are currently ranked 3rd in the world, played against the Thai pair ranked 1st in the world.
The pair of Watanabe and Higashino has been in good form, winning the silver medal at last month's World Championships, and in the first game, Watanabe's slow and steady attacks were effective and won the match with a score of 21-16.
However, in the second game, they lost 21 to 23 and caught up with a game count of 1 to 1, and in the third game, it was a difficult development that allowed them to lead by 7 points in the early stages.
From here, Higashino's tenacious defense invited the opponent's mistakes, and at one point they caught up to one point, but in the end, they were overwhelmed by the opponent's offense centered on heavy hitting, and the game was dropped 18 to 21, and the game counted 1 to 1. 2 reversal loss and became runner-up.