One day after Germany's women's team shocked Japan's women's team in the semifinals, the Japanese men's team returned the favor, as the fourth-seeded Japanese squad took down Germany in the semifinals of the Men's Team Table Tennis tournament, sending the Europeans home 3-1. In the other semifinal, China cruised past South Korea in straight sets, in a rematch of the 2012 gold medal match, won by China, who is going for their third straight gold medal in this event.
Japan rallies from early deficit to trump Germany
After a less than desirable start to the round, Japan rallied against Germany to win the final three matches and eliminate Germany in four sets.
Game 1 was a tough one for Japan, who sent their lowest-ranked player in Mahura Yoshimura against Germany's best player and 2012 bronze medalist Dimitrij Ovtcharov. The match ended very quickly, as the German ace thumped Yoshimura 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 in a breezy 25 minutes. However, it was the only bright spot of the match for Germany.
Needing a spark, Japan sent 2016 bronze medalist Jun Mizutani to the table, and Mizutani responded with a three-game sweep and a victory. Game 1 was a tough one as his opponent, Timo Boll, opened up an 8-3 lead on Mizutani. However, a 6-0 run gave Mizutani the lead, pacing his 11-9 victory. Mizutani cruised in Game 2, an easy 11-5 victory to open up a commanding lead. Although pushed to score an extra point in Game 3, Mizutani still managed to put away Boll 12-10 in the finale.
Yoshimura and Koki Niwa paired up for Japan in the always-critical doubles match. The dynamic duo would cruise in Game 1, 11-5 to really swing the momentum in favor of the Japanese. The Germans won a tight Game 2, as each partnership saved game points, before the favorites pulled out a 15-13 victory. However, seemingly exhausted from the tight victory, the Germans flopped down in the final two games, suffering two lopsided losses, by the scores of 11-4 and 11-5 to give the Japanese the lead.
After gaining the momentum for the Japanese, it only seemed fitting that Mizutani would get the chance to finish things off for the underdogs. Mizutani pounced on his opportunity, thumping Bastian Steger in three lightning-quick matches, 11-5, 11-4, and 11-4. Mizutani never led in any of the three games, as the German singles player bowed out quickly and submissively, giving Japan the victory and an assured medal. Now they will look to take down the giant of the table tennis world in China.
China cruises again
Thus far, China has looked simply unbeatable. Despite the loss of veteran Hao Weng, China has not even faltered, sweeping each one of their opponents in straight sets. In three Olympics in which the men's team event has taken place, China has not only won both gold medals, but they have never even been forced to the maximum five games. They've not swept their opponent only twice in their history. They continued that trend with a sweep of #3 South Korea, winners of the silver medal in 2012.
After a very tough game between Jike Zhang and Youngsik Jeoung. Zhang, China's 2012 gold medalist and 2016 silver medalist had to battle out his singles match, a five-game affair. The first two games were marathons, Zhang splitting with Jeoung 13-15, 13-11 in the first two games. Jeoung took the third game, bringing South Korea within one victory of actually taking a match vs. China to start the round.
However, Zhang responded with 11-8 and 11-4 victories to snatch victory out of Jeoung's hands. After that scare, China went on cruise control. They put matters into the hands of gold medalist Ma Long, who walloped his opponent, 11-1, 11-4. 11-4. Long took just 20 minutes to change the match from a difficult and tight semifinal, to a laugher of a match.
Zhang and Xu Xin formed the doubles pair for China, polishing off the sweep for the dominating top seed. After an 11-8 victory to start things off, Zhang and Xin saved two game points in Game 2, propelling them to a 12-10 victory, bringing them within one game of the gold medal match. The Chinese duo opened up a 7-3 lead and stayed in control the rest of the way, cruising to an 11-6 clincher.
The gold medal match will be played on Wednesday evening, with the women's medal matches being played tomorrow.