Asian countries once again demonstrated their dominance in table tennis as China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and North Korea secured all the spots in the mixed doubles semi-finals at the Paris Olympics after their victorious matches on Sunday.
South Korea and North Korea had relatively smoother paths to the semifinals, achieving decisive victories against Romania and Sweden, respectively. In contrast, China and Hong Kong faced more challenging opponents.
China's Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin engaged in an intense, hour-long battle against Taiwan players Lin Yun-ju and Chen Szu-yu on Sunday afternoon. The quarterfinal match between China, the No. 1 seed, and Taiwan, the No. 6 seed, was as fierce and high-caliber as any medal match.
The teams alternated set victories in the first four sets, with numerous ties throughout. China eventually claimed victory with a 4-2 score amid cheering from visiting fans holding flags and banners printed with their nicknames.
"We did both good and bad today. I feel that perhaps the preparation at the beginning was a bit lacking, especially in terms of the initial game strategy. Also, our coordination was not too good. This is something that I think we need to continue working on," said Sun.
It's a double gameday for Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin, who also cruised into the round of 32 in table tennis singles earlier on Sunday, one step closer to their gold medal ambitions.
They will face South Korea in the mixed doubles semi-final on Monday, while Hong Kong will play North Korea.
Sun secured a straightforward victory with a clean 4-0 win over Brazil's Giulia Takahashi. In contrast, Wang's victory was more hard-earned after a comeback victory over Slovenia's Wang Yang.
After losing the initial set, Wang adjusted his play to be more aggressive, ultimately triumphing with the support of Chinese fans cheering his name with a 4-1 score.
Hometown favorites Felix and Alexis Lebrun, at 17 and 20, also made it to the Round of 32 in singles with clean 4-0 victories, against the backdrop of a packed stadium of French fans cheering for them and shouting their names.
"It's not very common to have a crowd like this for table tennis here. It's like playing in a soccer stadium. The first match gave me a lot of experience. Now I can play at my top level," said Alexis, who rebounded from his mixed doubles loss on Saturday.
China's Sun and Wang, each competing in three events in table tennis, have a shot to walk home with multiple gold medals given China's dominance in the event. At the Tokyo Olympics, Sun won gold in the team event and silver in singles, losing to her Chinese teammate Chen Meng in the singles final. Wang was an unused reserve in the team event.
Japan's Hina Hayata, after a surprise loss to the North Korean team in the mixed doubles match on Saturday, reclaimed her confidence by defeating Italy's Debora Vivarelli with an easy 4-0 score.
Team USA
Kanak Jha secured his spot in the Round of 32 after defeating Daeseong Cho 4-2. The United States' star dropped the first game of the match, losing 8-11. He bounced back quickly, winning the next three sets, including a pair of 11-2 vicotires. Cho claimed the fifth game, but a 12-10 win in the final game of the match secured Jha berth in the next round.
Jha will play his next match on Wednesday, July 31. The two-time Olympian will face off against the winner of the match between Panagiotis Gionis and Edward Ly, which will take place Sunday at 3 p.m.
Olympic table tennis results, July 28
Full Olympic table tennis results from Saturday, July 28: