Japan shine in both swimming and table tennis

/in , /by

While Australia continues to stay on top of the medal tally, Japan yet again proved that it is the powerhouse when it comes to shattering records. They also took two out of three Golds in table tennis.

Swimming

On day-4 of the ongoing 2022 Virtus OA Games, the hungry Japanese relay teams shattered two more Virtus World Records today in the 4x50m medley relay in both men’s and women’s II1 categories. The men’s team consisting of Saito Masaki, Yamaguchi Naohide, Matsuda Anku and Kagose Rei broke the previous record of 1:53.76sec by timing 1:52.20sec. On the other hand, the women’s team of Fukui Kasumi, Serizawa Mikita, Inoue Mama and Kinoshita Aira clocked a new Virtus record time of 2:11.06sec.

In the same event, Australia also broke the Oceania record with 2:16.03sec which was set in 2019. Thompson Kale, Bruzzese Stephanie, Younes Yasmine-Bella and Lucy Jade were swimming for Australia in this race who added silver to Australia’s tally.

In II1 Women’s 200m Freestyle, Aira Kinoshita from Japan broke Asia’s record twice today. Clocking a time of 2:13.70sec, she broke it first in the prelims and later in the finals, she set the new record for 2:11.16sec.

In Women’s 50m Butterfly, Yui Lam Chan from Hong Kong had it all prepared to break her own Virtus record which she set in 2019. While she managed to succeed in her plan by timing 30.25sec, 00.17sec lesser than her previous record time, Corry Taylor (AUS)snatched away the Gold medal from Yui Lam along with the Virtus World Record with a time of 30.06.

Wai Lok Tang from Honk-Kong created a new Asia’s record in II1 Men’s 50m Breaststroke with 31.81sec.

Full swimming results can be accessed here.

Table Tennis

It was yet another exhilarating day at the  Sleeman Sports Complex where the finals of II1 doubles matches were staged.

Japan and Hong Kong made their way into the finals by beating Chinese Taipei and Macau by 3-2 and 3-0 respectively.

The finals couldn’t be more thrilling. Honk kong won the first two sets with a huge lead of 11-4 and 11-9 pushing the Japanese team into the third and deciding set. With tremendous pressure of winning the set to stay in the game, the Japanese team brought their A-game and dragged the third set to deciding points and dramatically won it by 14-12, after which there was no turning back. Miya Yamaguchi and Kawasaki Ayumi (JPN) kept on returning smashes across the table and won the next two sets by 11-4 and 11-7, winning the finals by 3-2 over Wong Put Key and Wong Ka Man from Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Li Lydia Yi-Ya and Li Jing Shaun from Chinese Taipei had a smooth win over Japan’s Wada Natsuki and Ota Ayumi with a score of 13-11, 13,11 and 11-7.

In II1 Men’s doubles, Japan took a head start by winning the first two sets by 11-9, 11-6 against Chinese Taipei. However, winning the third set by 11-9, Chen Po Yen and Hseieh Fei from Chinese Taipei kept their position steady in the match. In the fourth match, Yamamoto Shunta and Hara Hajime started playing aggressively to which the Chinese Taipei team had no defence and lost the Gold to Japan by 11-9. Indonesia and Hong kong took the final podium spot.

In the mixed doubles, Shunta Yamamoto paired up with Wada Natsuki for Japan and played against their fellow countrymates Hara anime and Yamaguchi Miya. While Yamamoto and Wada won the first match by 11-9, Hara and Yamaguchi won the next matches by 11-5, 11-9 and went a step closer to the Gold. Winning the next match, Yamamoto and Wada pushed Chinese Taipei into the deciding match. Both the teams gave tough competition to each other and pushed the final set beyond typical match points but Hara and Yamaguchi couldn’t shake the determined mood of Yamamoto and Wada and lost the final set by 14-12. Chinese Taipei’s Chen Po Yen and Li Jing Shiuan and Japan’s Yoshikawa Aoto and Kawasaki Ayumi settled for Bronze.

Full match stats can be accessed from the ITTF website.

Here are some actions from the doubles matches played today.