Paris 2024 Olympic Games – Table tennis – Mixed doubles Round of 16 – South Paris Arena 4, Paris, France – July 27, 2024. Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan and Hina Hayata of Japan in action during their Round of 16 match against Jong Sik Ri of North Korea and Kum Yong Kim of North Korea.
14:09 JST, July 28, 2024
Paris (Reuters) – Japan’s mixed doubles team, world number two in table tennis, Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto, were defeated 4-1 by North Koreans Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong in the first round of the Paris Olympics, losing the chance to retain the gold medal for their country.
Paris 2024 Olympic Games – Table tennis – Mixed doubles, Round of 16 – South Paris Arena 4, Paris, France – July 27, 2024. Jong Sik Ri of North Korea and Kum Yong Kim of North Korea react during their round of 16 match against Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan and Hina Hayata of Japan.
The 49-minute match at the South Paris Arena ended in a stunning defeat for the Japanese duo, who were seen as strong contenders for the title and as challengers to the Chinese team.
“They are much tougher opponents than many others. We have seen them before in other events and they performed much better today compared to then,” Harimoto said of the North Koreans, who will face Sweden in the quarterfinals.
Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata will face Jong Sik Ri and Kum Yong Kim of KoNortrea in their round of 16 match in Paris.
China’s top-ranked mixed doubles team, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, eased through with a 4-0 win over Egypt, paving the way for what they hope will be a gold medal. They now face Taiwan in the last eight.
Luxembourg’s 61-year-old Ni Xialian, the oldest female table tennis athlete ever, defeated Turkey’s Sibel Altinkaya in the round of 16, continuing her record-breaking run at her sixth Olympic Games.
French fans, who cheered loudly for everyone but especially their home favourites, had a mixed day. Despite the best efforts of Alexis Lebrun and Yuan Jia Nan, they lost 4-2 to the higher-ranked Taiwanese team of Chen Szu-Yu and Lin Yun-Ju in the mixed doubles.
But home advantage may have helped 19-year-old Frenchwoman Prithika Pavade on Saturday as she made her second Olympic appearance and advanced to the round of 16 in the women’s singles by beating Iran’s Neda Shahsavari 4-1.
The North Korean team has played fewer international matches than other players in the past three years, making them a mystery to their rivals.
In their exciting match against Japan, the North Koreans were very successful from the start and managed to maintain a high level of play in the second half.
Despite the setback, Hayata and Harimoto will compete in more events at the Paris Olympics.
“Anything can happen. I hope to play better in the singles and team events,” Harimoto added.
Their elimination is a blow to Japan’s medal chances and a boost for their rivals, including the dominant Chinese team.
Ni Xialian’s former China teammate, 58-year-old Zeng Zhiying, saw her Olympic debut for Chile end earlier on Saturday when she lost 4-1 to Lebanese Mariana Sahakia.
