■Paris Olympics™ Table Tennis Mixed Doubles 1st Round (27th local time, Paris South Arena)

In the first round of the mixed doubles, the pair of Tomokazu Harimoto (21, Tomokazu Kikaku) and Hina Hayata (24, Nippon Life Insurance) appeared, but lost 1-4 to the North Korean pair of Ri Jeong-sik and Kim Kunyong, resulting in an unexpected first-round defeat.

Mixed doubles became an official event from the last tournament, and the pair Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics to become the first champions. Japan aimed to win a medal for the second consecutive tournament, but they couldn’t get on a roll from the beginning and were eliminated in the first round.

In the first game, after losing the first point, he suddenly allowed six consecutive points due to receiving errors. He was unable to turn the tide and lost the first game 5-11.

In the second game, North Korea continued to lose three consecutive points from the beginning, but Harimoto’s quick attack on the table was successful and they took the lead for the first time in the match at 5-4. In the middle of the game, they started to get into a rhythm, scoring points with a variety of receives, including a loop drive from Hayata. At the end, Hayata’s brilliant counterattack was successful and they took the lead back at 11-7. In the third game, North Korea lost ground in many instances where their receives hit the net, and they succumbed to the rallies and were again at a disadvantage at 4-11.

The fourth game was decisive. With the opponent’s powerful shots and counters exploding, Kim struggled with the balls that changed from Kim’s high-grain rubber, and the game was completely in their favor at 1-7. However, the North Korean pair called a timeout with consecutive points from Japan. They broke down the opponent with long serves and tied the score at 7-7. The opponent also maintained their offensive stance, and in the close game at deuce, Hayata’s drive went over and they had no way out.

In the fifth game, they were unable to defend against the stable attacks of the North Korean pair, and allowed them to take the lead from the first half. However, when their opponent’s powerful shot went over and they tied the score at 7-7, Harimoto’s back shot was decided and they took the lead, but in the end they were overtaken and lost 10-12.

After the match, Harimoto said, “Honestly, I’m disappointed. My opponent played great, but I think she made a few mistakes at crucial moments. I think my opponent played better than I expected, and there are still two events to go, so I’d like to do my best in the next singles match so that I can bring home at least a medal.”

The pair of Harimoto and Hayata won the WTT Star Contender Bangkok just before the Olympics, and were seeded second with four consecutive WTT wins. They were drawn against the first-seeded Chinese pair Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha until the final, but they struggled and lost without finding their rhythm.