Dominant China wary of host Japan in Asiad table tennis competition

NAGOYA – China’s table tennis team is wary of the threat presented by host Japan at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games as the sport’s superpower looks to bring on younger talent with an eye on the 2028 Olympics.

Olympic champions Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and Wang Chuqin will lead China’s campaign but the 10-strong team also includes seven players making their debut at the Asiad.

China has dominated table tennis at the Asian Games since its first appearance in 1974, sweeping all of the gold medals in 1978, 2010 and 2018.

The South Korean pairing of Jeon Ji-hee and Shin Yu-bin denied China the sweep with a women’s doubles triumph in Hangzhou three years ago but women’s head coach Ma Lin is more concerned about the threat of the host nation this year.

“We have analyzed Japanese players’ playing styles and know exactly what we are up against,” Ma told Xinhua news agency as the team departed for Japan on Wednesday.

“We need to stay vigilant, treat every ball seriously and hold ourselves to strict standards in training.”

The rivalry between China and Japan in the women’s game has grown from extremely close team finals at the last two editions of the World Table Tennis Championships.

Sun led China to comeback wins in both and was only recently usurped as world No. 1 by teammate Wang Manyu, with Japanese teenager Miwa Harimoto ranked third.

“We are closely matched,” said Sun, who won three gold medals in Hangzhou.

“It all goes down to on-court performance and team cohesion. That counts most.”

Harimoto, born in Japan to Chinese parents, and partner Hina Hayata top the rankings in women’s doubles, while South Koreans Shin and Lim Jong-hoon are No. 1 in mixed doubles, but Ma was upbeat about China’s chances of a title sweep.

“We will go all out to fight for every gold medal,” the former men’s world No. 1 added.

“Huge challenges lie ahead, yet we have full confidence. Whatever obstacles come our way, we will fight to win.”

The men’s team is less experienced, with defending singles champion and world No. 1 Wang Chuqin the only one of the four players with previous Asian Games experience.

Japan’s Sora Matsushima and Tomokazu Harimoto, Miwa’s brother, are third and fourth in the men’s singles rankings but China’s head coach Qin Zhijian thought the mix of youth and experience would come up trumps.

“The three Olympic champions pass on their experience to the seven young players, while the younger ones bring passion and drive to inspire the Olympic medalists,” he said.

Table tennis gets under way with the team competitions at the Sky Hall Toyota on Sunday.