Taiwan’s mixed doubles team of Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching advanced to the finals of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender in London after defeating Japan’s Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto on Friday.
The world No. 11 duo overcame the world No. 4 pair 3-1 in their semi-final at London’s Copper Box Arena, which is hosting the WTT event from Tuesday to today.
The win sends Lin and Cheng into today’s final, where they are to face Hong Kong’s world No. 5 duo Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem.
The Japanese pair started strong, racing to a 5-1 lead in the first game. Although Lin and Cheng closed the gap to 6-7, Matsushima and Harimoto held their nerve to take the opener 11-7.
The second game was tightly contested until Lin rediscovered his rhythm, unleashing a series of smashes that helped the Taiwanese pair edge out their opponents 11-9.
With the match tied 1-1, Lin and Cheng combined fluently in the third game to seize the momentum, winning 11-8.
They dominated the fourth game, pulling ahead early and sealing a 11-5 victory to claim the match 3-1.
Friday’s semi-final was the second career meeting between the Taiwanese and Japanese pairs.
Their first encounter was in the quarter-finals of the WTT Smash in the US in July. Lin and Cheng prevailed 3-2 before being stopped in the semi-finals by South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon.
Coincidentally, the Hong Kong duo Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem, whom Lin and Cheng are to face in today’s final, reached the semi-finals at the same event, but were defeated by China’s Kuai Man and Lin Shidong.
Lin and Cheng are long-time mixed doubles partners. They won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
They also won bronze at the 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
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