Tomokazu Harimoto and Chen Yi won the singles titles at the Asian Championships in Tashkent, where China and Japan shared all seven titles between them, four to three. Harimoto came from two games down to beat China's Li Tianyang in the men's final on Sunday, and Chen beat Japan's Miwa Harimoto 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 for the women's title.
The championships, held from 19 to 25 October, also decided Asian qualifying places for the 2027 World Championships in Astana.
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Harimoto's comeback
Li won the opening game of the men's final 11-1 and edged the second 11-9, but Harimoto took the next three 11-7, 11-8, 11-7. His route to the final had been far smoother: he beat China's Wen Ruibo 3-0 in the semi-finals, conceding no more than seven points in any game. Li needed five games to get past Taiwan's Kuo Guan-hong, who led 2-1 before Li won the last two games 11-2 and 11-6.
Harimoto went into the week ranked third in the world, behind Sora Matsushima and France's Félix Lebrun. His win denied China a clean sweep of the men's events: Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng won the men's doubles, beating their compatriots Wen Ruibo and Yuan Licen 3-1.
Chen Yi's week
Chen beat her teammate Wang Yidi 3-0 on the way to the women's final and did not drop a game against Miwa Harimoto. "This tournament is definitely a valuable experience for me," she told UNI. She also reached the mixed doubles final with Huang Youzheng, where they lost to Miwa Harimoto and Matsushima.
For Miwa Harimoto, Tomokazu's sister, it was a week of three finals. She lost the singles and, with Hina Hayata, the women's doubles final to China's Kuai Man and Wang Yidi, but won the mixed doubles with the world No 1.
Japan's women beat China
The women's team final went to the deciding fifth match. Honoka Hashimoto beat Chen 3-0 in the first, before Wang Yidi beat Miwa Harimoto in five games and Kuai beat Hayata 3-0 to put China 2-1 up. Miwa Harimoto levelled with a 3-0 win over Chen, and Hashimoto won the decider 3-1 against Wang Yidi.
South Korea took bronze in the women's event, beating India 3-0 in the quarter-finals before losing by the same score to China in the semi-finals.
China retain the men's team title
China's men beat South Korea 3-0 in the team final. Zhou Qihao beat Kang Dong-soo 3-1, Lin Shidong beat Park Gyu-hyun in straight games and Xiang Peng closed out the tie with a 3-1 win over Park Kang-hyun. Two games went to extra points, but South Korea did not win a match.
The Koreans had a strong week all the same. Without Lim Jong-hoon or Jang Woo-jin, they beat India 3-0 in the quarter-finals, then knocked out Japan 3-1 in the semi-finals. Kang won both his singles, against Hiroto Shinozuka and Tomokazu Harimoto, and Park Gyu-hyun beat Matsushima 3-0. The silver was South Korea's sixth in the men's team event at the Asian Championships and their first since Yogyakarta in 2019, Star News Korea reported.
Champions
- Men's singles: Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN) bt Li Tianyang (CHN) 1-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7
- Women's singles: Chen Yi (CHN) bt Miwa Harimoto (JPN) 11-5, 11-8, 11-6
- Men's doubles: Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng (CHN) bt Wen Ruibo and Yuan Licen (CHN) 3-1
- Women's doubles: Kuai Man and Wang Yidi (CHN) bt Miwa Harimoto and Hina Hayata (JPN)
- Mixed doubles: Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto (JPN) bt Huang Youzheng and Chen Yi (CHN)
- Men's team: China bt South Korea 3-0
- Women's team: Japan bt China 3-2
What's next
Most of the medallists went straight on to Europe. Tomokazu Harimoto, Chen and Matsushima are all in the draw at WTT Champions Montpellier, which started on Tuesday, along with China's full women's squad.
