The semi-final of the 2013 Times Property World Team Classic on 30th March in Guangzhou was a close and intense battle between China and Japan and for the first time Japan were able to put a great amount of pressure on the indestructible Chinese Team.
Japan’s team of Jun Mizutani, Koki Niwa and Kenta Matsudaira fought hard against the strong Chinese line up. Jun Mizutani had everyone on the edge of their seats as he had a 2-1 lead over Xu Xin which put a huge amount of pressure on the Chinese player however Xu Xin managed to fight back and take the win.
Also the fantastic partnership of Koki Niwa and kenta Matsudaira caused a stir when they managed an unbelievable come back against Olympic champions Zhang Jike and Wang Hao after being 2-0 down then 10-5 down in the deciding set. The duo demonstrated their strength and power by securing the win by the slightest of margins.
Jun Mizutani who is the current top ranking Japanese player in the world commented on how he had gained confidence and inspiration throughout this tough tournament “ I believe in the near future that the Japanese team will be able to beat China, my performance against Xu Xin in this match was by far the best so far during my career and I hope that I can still improve on this”.
The coach of the Japanese team also commented how the Japanese team were not far off their competitors in this tournament and that this was by far Japan’s best performance against China to date.
It will be interesting to see if any of these competitors will meet in the up and coming 2013 World Table Tennis Championships in Paris and if so, who will come out on top.
For all the latest news, results and videos from the 2013 World Team Classic click here. To catch up on all the latest highlighted matches from the World Team Classic visit our Media Library.
Like and tweet our articles to the World. Lets spread the word of Table Tennis.
Source: TableTennisTa
Photo: Feng Li/Getty Images Europe
Written by: Emily Standing
TableTennisDaily
Japan’s team of Jun Mizutani, Koki Niwa and Kenta Matsudaira fought hard against the strong Chinese line up. Jun Mizutani had everyone on the edge of their seats as he had a 2-1 lead over Xu Xin which put a huge amount of pressure on the Chinese player however Xu Xin managed to fight back and take the win.
Also the fantastic partnership of Koki Niwa and kenta Matsudaira caused a stir when they managed an unbelievable come back against Olympic champions Zhang Jike and Wang Hao after being 2-0 down then 10-5 down in the deciding set. The duo demonstrated their strength and power by securing the win by the slightest of margins.
Jun Mizutani who is the current top ranking Japanese player in the world commented on how he had gained confidence and inspiration throughout this tough tournament “ I believe in the near future that the Japanese team will be able to beat China, my performance against Xu Xin in this match was by far the best so far during my career and I hope that I can still improve on this”.
The coach of the Japanese team also commented how the Japanese team were not far off their competitors in this tournament and that this was by far Japan’s best performance against China to date.
It will be interesting to see if any of these competitors will meet in the up and coming 2013 World Table Tennis Championships in Paris and if so, who will come out on top.
For all the latest news, results and videos from the 2013 World Team Classic click here. To catch up on all the latest highlighted matches from the World Team Classic visit our Media Library.
Like and tweet our articles to the World. Lets spread the word of Table Tennis.
Source: TableTennisTa
Photo: Feng Li/Getty Images Europe
Written by: Emily Standing
TableTennisDaily