Korean media: Still the "army of kings," China's dominant victory concludes the intense China-Japan table tennis showdown!

On September 29, South Korea’s Kyunghyang News published an article stating that the China-Japan table tennis rivalry concluded with a decisive triumph for China.

Although Japan claimed the men’s team title, appearing to hold an early advantage, China quickly demonstrated its true strength, reaffirming its status as a perennial powerhouse.

In the table tennis events at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Summer Asian Games, China secured six of the seven gold medals—matching its tally from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

In fact, with four silver and one bronze medal, China’s overall performance surpassed its previous record of two silvers and one bronze from Hangzhou.

Japan captured their first gold in the men’s team event by defeating China 3–2, marking their first title in the competition in 60 years. However, they suffered significant setbacks in subsequent events, ultimately finishing with just one gold, three silvers, and three bronzes.

The men’s singles competition proved particularly disappointing for Japan. The team had anticipated a final between world No. 3 Shimada Koki and world No. 4 Tomokazu Harimoto. Shimada lost 2–4 to Chinese player Lin Shudong in the quarterfinals, underscoring China’s superior depth. Harimoto then suffered the biggest upset of the tournament, losing 3–4 to Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan, ranked 344th globally.

Ultimately, Lin Shudong emerged victorious in the men’s singles final, defeating top seed Wang Chuqin to claim gold.

In the men’s doubles, Lin Shudong partnered with Huang Youzheng to defeat the Japanese duo Tomokazu Harimoto/Saito Taitei 4–2.

The women’s competition saw China dominate even more decisively. China completed the tournament undefeated, claiming the team title after a 3–0 sweep over Japan in the final. In the semifinals, top seed Wang Manyu defeated third seed Tomokazu Harimoto, while second seed Sun Yingsha bested sixth seed Hayata Sina. Wang Manyu went on to win the final.

The women’s doubles was also won by the Wang Manyu/Kuai Man pairing. Their dominant 11–0 victory over the Harimoto/Hayata combination in the opening round of the final drew widespread attention.

The mixed doubles event featured a Chinese internal showdown. Lin Shudong/Kuai Man defeated the world’s top-ranked Korean pair Lim Jong-hun/Shin Yu-bin in the semifinals, while Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha overcame India’s Manash Saha/Diya Chitale.

Lin Shudong/Kuai Man ultimately took home the gold medal.

On the individual medal standings, Lin Shudong delivered a standout performance, winning all three events excluding the men’s team, effectively dispelling external doubts about China’s table tennis dominance.

Wang Chuqin, meanwhile, fell short of a gold medal.

In the women’s singles, Wang Manyu swept all three titles—team, singles, and doubles. Kuai Man secured three golds across the women’s team, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles events.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1877629401272393/

Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author.