In the table tennis singles at the Paris Olympics, Hina Hayata will carry the flag as Japan's final medal contender, after both Tomokazu Harimoto and Miu Hirano were eliminated in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Third seed Hayata defeated North Korea's Byun Song Kyong 4-3 in the women's singles at South Paris Arena to advance to the semifinals against China's top seed Sun Yingsha.
Pictured is Japan's Hayata Hina playing against North Korea's Byun Song Kyong during the quarterfinals of the women's singles table tennis competition at the Paris Olympics at the South Paris Arena in Paris on August 1, 2024. (Kyodo)
Hayata's mixed doubles partner, Harimoto, lost in seven games to world champion Fan Zhendong of China in the men's doubles, while Hirano also lost in seven games to South Korean Shin Yubin in the quarterfinals of the women's doubles.
The 24-year-old Hayata looked to have the upper hand early on, leading 2-0 before trading games with Byun to go up 3-1, but the North Korean player won the fifth and sixth games in succession to force the match into a deciding game where Hayata regained the momentum to win 11-6.
Pictured is Japan's Hayata Hina playing against North Korea's Byun Song Kyong during the quarterfinals of the women's singles table tennis competition at the Paris Olympics at the South Paris Arena in Paris on August 1, 2024. (Kyodo)
Japan's Hayata Hina expresses her joy after defeating North Korea's Byun Song Kyong in the women's singles quarterfinals at the Paris Olympic Table Tennis competition at the South Paris Arena in Paris on August 1, 2024. (Kyodo)
“It was a difficult match, but I knew that if I kept my cool, I wouldn't lose,” Hayata said. “I just had to do what I had to do.”
The 21-year-old Harimoto led 2-0 against Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Fan and looked set to win, but Fan rallied back to tie the score at 2-2.
Harimoto was one game away from qualifying for the semi-finals at 3-2, but China's No. 2 seed once again answered the challenge, winning the seventh game 11-7.
Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto will face China's Fan Zhendong in the quarterfinals of the men's singles table tennis competition at the Paris Olympics. The match will be held at the South Paris Arena in Paris on August 1, 2024. (Kyodo)
“I tried my best and did everything I could,” said the sixth-seeded Harimoto. “I'm happy about it even though I didn't win. You could see Fan's strength in the last two games. He had a slight edge over me.”
Hirano had dropped just one game in her previous three matches but appeared to be heading for elimination when she went down 0-3 to 20-year-old Shin, the fourth seed.
Japan's Hirano Miu (front row) loses to South Korea's Shin Yu-bin in the quarterfinals of the women's singles table tennis event at the Paris Olympics, at the South Paris Arena in Paris on August 1, 2024. (Kyodo News)
But eighth seed Hirano showed resilience to tie the match at three games apiece but failed to convert two match points to lose the deciding match 11-13.
The 24-year-old Hirano said, “I have no regrets, but I didn't have the strength to win a medal. I'll just have to do my best in the team event (at the upcoming Olympics).”
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