TOYOTA, Japan - Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Hina Hayata lost 4-0 to dominant Chinese pair Kuai Man and Wang Manyu in the women's doubles table tennis final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday.
Trying to win Japan's first gold medal in the event since 1966, Harimoto, 18, and Hayata, 26, booked their place in the final with a 4-0 semifinal victory over Doo Hoi Kem and Ng Wing Lam of Hong Kong earlier in the day at Sky Hall Toyota.
The world No. 1 Japanese duo had not dropped a game on their path to the final but faced a formidable opponent in second-ranked Kuai and Wang, who were out to reclaim the title won by South Korea at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The Chinese made an imposing start to the match, racing through the first game without conceding a point.
Harimoto and Hayata scored their first point down 3-0 in the second game as they fought their way into the contest, earning a game point at 10-9 before Kuai and Wang regained the momentum to win 13-11.
Kuai and Wang won the third game 11-4 and held off the Japanese duo 11-9 in the fourth.
"They (Kuai and Wang) were really impressive, just extremely strong in almost every area," said Harimoto, who added silver to the bronze she won in the event alongside partner Miyuu Kihara in Hangzhou in 2023.
"All of their techniques are so solid, so when we tried to score against them, we had to take risks. That led to mistakes on our end, like missing serves at crucial moments."
Hayata said she and Harimoto aimed to continue building their chemistry to become stronger as a pair.
"We'll keep communicating, and eventually we want to reach a point where we can make decisions on the court ourselves as a pair, fully understanding each other, without relying entirely on the coach," she said.
