Tomokazu Harimoto won the first match against Lin Shidong, but with Japan already trailing 0-6, the result was anything but a foregone conclusion. Shidong dominated the next two matches and China claimed gold with an 8-1 scoreline in this rendition of the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup. The two 3-0 wins for China were Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha (both world number 1) over Matsushima and Odo in the mixed doubles and Wang Manyu (world number 2) over Miwa Harimoto.
There are no surprises in a team event where one team is ranked number 1 and 2 in the world in both the male and female singles categories. China has had absolute dominance in much of our sport, and a team format makes upsets even more unlikely – considering the likelihood that three separate upsets would have to happen in one team match for China to fall. Still, this format will apply to the next Olympics, and the rest of the world has a few months to make adjustments.
For their part, Japan has clearly emerged as the second-best team in the world. Tomokazu Harimoto was the highest-ranked non-Chinese male player and the recent emergence of Sora Matsushima (world No. 8) gives Japan a second strong male player. The Japanese women are extremely strong and deep (against the non-Chinese table tennis world) with Miwa Harimoto at number 6 in the world, Mima Ito at number 8 in the world and Satsuki Odo at number 14 in the world. In today’s semifinals, second-seeded Japan faced the third-seeded team, Germany. The Japanese mixed doubles team of Ito and Shinozuka easily won (3-0) against Kaufmann and Franziska. Miwa Harimoto then defeated Sabine Winter 2-1 to give Japan a 5-1 lead. Dang Qiu then won the only match for Germany, winning 2 out of 3 against Sora Matsushima. And then Japan closed the door with Matsushima and Togami on top of Duda and Qiu. Japan had an early lead that was never really challenged. And Tomokazu did not play – that is, Japan’s best male player could rest before the final.
As we look ahead to the Olympics, expect China and Japan to be ready – both with strong contingents in both male and female singles and a history of strong doubles (for an event where there are potentially three doubles sets and only two singles sets per team match). It’s the other teams that will make it interesting. Can Germany improve its female singles and doubles? Could Korea’s strong doubles play be accompanied by a few major setbacks? Sweden (playing without Truls Moregard) plays strong doubles and has suffered major setbacks in singles – but can their ladies hold their own at this level? If the French men continue to improve, they could have the strongest non-Chinese men’s team, paired with the Lebrun brothers as an experienced doubles team, but they need to make a big step on the women’s side. And interestingly, Romania may have all the firepower they need on the women’s side – but will their rapidly improving young male players improve quickly enough?
This is an interesting twist for our sport, and while there are some obvious advantages for teams with great players (like China, of course), the focus on doubles could make for some interesting plot twists in 2028, when Los Angeles hosts the next Olympics.
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