Tomokazu Harimoto (Photo WTT)
The Men’s Team title race has been shaken up at ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London, with top seed Sweden falling at the hands of Chinese Taipei in an epic 3-2 quarterfinal showdown.
Sweden topped Group 1 with a perfect record, with one of its three Stage 1A wins coming over defending champion China. Coupling that with convincing 3-0 successes over Hungary and Croatia, the Swedish path to gold appeared to be opening up nicely.
However, they were in for a shock late into Thursday night at OVO Arena Wembley as Chinese Taipei, who finished bottom of Group 2, hit Sweden hard and fast.
Lin Yun-Ju set the tone early, lighting up Table 1 with his best showing of the event so far as the ‘Silent Assassin’ made Truls Moregard his first victim of the night winning 11-8, 11-9, 13-11. While panic didn’t filter through the Swedish ranks right away, the nerves certainly started jangling one match later as 17-year-old sensation Kuo Guan-Hong pulled off a late comeback 4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7 win over Anton Kallberg, putting Sweden on the brink of defeat.
The team’s survival was now pinned on the shoulders of Elias Ranefur, and not for the first time this week, the World No.70 delivered. Ranefur’s 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 win over Feng Yi-Hsin restored a glimmer of hope for the Swedes, and with Moregard striking a redeeming victory over Kuo in the following contest 11-6, 11-8, 12-10, the stars appeared to be aligning for the European giants.
But any optimism was quickly crushed as Lin Yun-Ju delivered another ruthless display in the decider, showing Anton Kallberg no mercy winning 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 to send Chinese Taipei to the semifinals, and extinguish the Swedish flame.
The result means Sweden’s wait for a 6th Men’s Team gold medal goes on, and also means the team misses out on a podium spot for the third ITTF World Team Championships running, with its last medal (bronze) coming back in 2018.
Japan exact revenge on Germany
Japan’s men have delivered a devastating blow to Germany at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London, beating them 3-1 in the quarterfinals to move one step closer towards the title.
Japan and Germany had already met once in London, having squared off in Stage 1A, with the European outfit battling back from 2-1 down to win that match. But Japan got their revenge this time, and simultaneously secured their first medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals since winning bronze in 2022.
Tomokazu Harimoto was a man on a mission in this tie and put in a stunning performance against Benedikt Duda, winning 11-4, 11-4, 11-6. Sora Matsushima then stepped up to the table to take on Dang Qiu and recovered from an early setback to double Japan’s lead with a 5-11, 11-2, 12-10, 11-5 win.
With the prospect of crashing out in the quarterfinals on the horizon, Germany turned to veteran Patrick Franziska, who took his chance against Shunsuke Togami to take the match 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7.
The fourth match pitted Harimoto against Qiu in a repeat of the Stage 1A match that ended in a straight-game win for the German, who would have been praying that he could replicate that performance again tonight.
Qiu made a strong start to Game One and was leading 10-8 before Harimoto fired off four winners to steal the opener. They both then had two more Game Points in a crucial second game, but it was the man from Japan who again squeezed over the line.
In the third, Harimoto built a commanding 8-4 lead before Qiu came roaring back and was momentarily ahead. But there was one more twist to come as the World No.3 Harimoto recovered in time to secure the 12-10, 15-13, 11-9 win.
In the first quarterfinal of the day, China’s women swept aside Korea as their hunt for a sixth consecutive World Team Table Tennis Championships gold medal continues.
Wang Manyu, featuring for only the third time in London, wasted no time in dispatching Shin Yubin 11-1, 11-4, 11-4 before Sun Yingsha took the reins to take on Kim Nayeong for the second time at this year’s World Championships.
After taking the first game, Sun was on her way to getting another straight-games win over Kim, but the Korea Republic player had learned a lot from their previous match and dominated the World No.1 in Game Two to pull level, becoming the first person to take a game from Sun in London.
That win gave Kim huge confidence, and she stunned the Chinese fans in OVO Arena Wembley when she did it again to go 2-1 up. Sun, who has only lost one World Team Table Tennis Championship match in four years, was backed into a corner.
But it didn’t take long for Sun to get back to her best; she drew level by scoring 10 consecutive winners and soon enough was 7-1 up in the decider. Kim narrowed the gap as she fought desperately for the win and saved one Match Point, but the strength of Sun was too much, and she put China 2-0 up with a 11-7, 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 win.
Wang Yidi was tasked with finishing off the tie and dispatched Park Gahyeon to send China to the semifinals and she delivered with a 11-5, 11-3, 10-12, 11-2 victory.
There was heartbreak for England, as the men’s team gave everything in their Round of 16 match but were unable to get past Brazil in a tie that went the distance.
Brazil took a commanding lead as Hugo Calderano beat Tom Jarvis 11-6, 11-8, 13-11, before Guilherme Teodoro also got a straight-games 16-14, 12-10, 11-6 win over Connor Green. But there were signs that England could trouble Brazil in the second match, with Green saving four Game Points and forcing one of his own in the first two games.
The host nation got one back through Samuel Walker, who recovered from an early setback with a convincing 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 win over Leonardo Iizuka. Jarvis then returned to the table and made amends for his earlier loss, beating Teodoro 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10.
Against the odds, England had drawn level and were now one win away from the quarterfinals. The responsibility fell to Green, but standing opposite him was the World No.5 in Calderano.
The first two games were close, with Green taking a late lead at 7-8 in both, before the Thrill from Brazil fired four winners in a row to lead 2-0 and closed out the third comfortably to win 11-8, 11-8, 11-4.
Just before that match on Table 2, Ukraine pulled off a stunning win against the USA, who had Match Point in the fourth, as the women’s teams battled it out over five games and two hours and 44 minutes.
Margaryta Pesotska started things off with a 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 win over Jessica Reyes Lai, before Sally Moyland drew level by beating Veronika Matiunina 11-6, 14-12, 11-6. Lily Zhang then faced off against Tetyana Bilenko to put the USA 2-1 up with a 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9 win.
Moyland and Pesotska then went hammer and tongs in the fourth, with the quarterfinals in touching distance for the USA. Pesotska was denied Game Point in the first, and saved two before eventually going down, but she recovered with a lethal 11-2 in the second.
Moyland reestablished the lead and then had two Match Points to send the USA into the quarterfinals, but Pesotska saved to force a fifth game. From there, the Ukrainian didn’t look back, not going behind once as her side completed a dream fightback, taking the match 12-14, 11-2, 12-14, 12-10, 11-7.
