Tokyo Olympics: Hong Kong to face Germany as China sets up table tennis final with Japan
- Top seeds storm into gold-medal contest with hosts after beating Rio 2016 silver medallists 3-0 in rematch of final from five years ago
- Petrissa Solja wins only game for Europeans as Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu look to avenge mixed-doubles defeat to Mima Ito and Jun Mitizani
Hong Kong’s coach and players were right – the women’s team table tennis bronze medal match will be against Germany after they were beaten 3-0 by top seeds China.
It was a repeat of the Rio 2016 gold medal match-up, which China also walked away from as winners.
Germany’s team – Han Ying, Shan Xiaona and Petrissa Solja – was unchanged from five years ago and again could not cope with the challenge of world No 1 Chen Meng, No 2 Sun Yingsha and No 4 Wang Manyu.
World No 5 doubles pair Wang and Chen swept aside No 16 ranked Shan and Solja in the doubles opener, with little resistance after the opening game. It ended 3-0 (11-9, 11-2, 11-4).
Sun then swiftly saw off world No 20 Han in similar fashion. That also ended 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-9).
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Finally, Chen took on world No 17 Solja in singles in what was a must win rubber for the Europeans.
Solja was game, winning the first 11-9, but Chen then showed her steel to storm to a 3-1 win (9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 13-11). There was no need for world No 34 Han to take on Wang.
China now faces second seeds Japan, who romped past Hong Kong 3-0 in the other semi, in Thursday’s gold medal final with Mima Ito, Kasumi Ishikawa and Miu Hirano in fine form.
Ito is world No 3, having dropped from No 2 in the most recent rankings, and the duo is the top-ranked doubles pair in the world.
Japan, with Ito and Jun Mitizani, already upset China in the mixed doubles in Tokyo but normal service resumed when Sun beat Ito in their singles semi-final on the way to silver against Chen. The Japanese paddler had to settle for bronze in the singles.
Hong Kong and Germany will reacquaint themselves in the Olympics in the bronze medal match. It was the Germans who ended Hong Kong’s Rio 2016 Games in the quarter-finals, winning 3-1.
