By Ken Marantz
OCA Media
Toyota, Japan, September 28, 2026: During the player introductions before the women’s doubles final, Japan’s Miwa Harimoto prematurely walked off the stage to the surprise of partner Hina Hayata.
That paled in comparison with the way Chinese opponents Wang Mangyu and Kuai Man bolted out of the blocks before storming to a one-sided victory over the shell-shocked Japanese pair on Monday night at Sky Hall Toyota.
Wang and Kuai, the reigning world champions, whitewashed the Japanese in the first game en route to a 4-0 (11-0, 13-11, 11-4, 11-8) rout in 39 minutes that completed a Chinese sweep of the women’s table tennis gold medals.
“We wanted to start strong, show our intent and ability from the very first game,” Wang said. “But to be able to take that game 11-0 was also a surprise to us. We performed very well today. The last time we played the same opponents, it was a very close match.”
The victory defied the current world rankings, which has the Japanese at No. 1 and the Chinese at No. 2.
“They’re the world No. 1 pair, so we were wary of that going into the match,” Wang said. “When you get to a final, all you can do is give it your best.”
For Wang and Kuai, it was their third gold medals each of these Asian Games. Both were members of the squad that defeated Japan in the team final, before Kuai combined with Lin Shidong to take the mixed doubles gold on Saturday and Wang captured the women’s singles title on Sunday.
“This being my first Asian Games, I was very eager to take it all in,” Kuai said. “I was in good form, and I carried that form from the team event to the mixed doubles and now the women’s doubles event.
“Overall, I guess I did pretty well. I gained a lot from these Asian Games. I’ll give myself a 99 out of 100.”
Before the large crowd of Chinese that followed their team throughout the tournament, Kuai and Wang could not have gotten off to a more dominating start. Hayata and Harimoto seemed all out of sorts, never finding a rhythm as they failed to score in the first game.
“We got off the blocks quickly,” Kuai said. “In terms of tactics, strategy, we stayed committed to everything that we’ve planned. We stayed determined. Ups and downs in a match, these are all very normal.”
It would not be until four points into the second game that the Japanese finally scored and, after surrendering two more points to fall behind 5-1, won four of the next five points to put themselves back into the match.
The Japanese started finally clicking, connecting on hard, well-placed smashes, and twice set up game point. But the Chinese ran off three straight points to take the game that ended with Harimoto putting a forehand into the net.
The third game was all China, as Wang and Kuai reeled off eight straight points to go up 8-2 before winning 11-4.
In the fourth game, China led early before both teams put on short spurts. With the Chinese up 9-8, Harimoto made a dreadful error by putting her serve off the table, and Wang and Kuai converted the resulting match point to clinch China’s ninth Asian Games gold overall in the event.
The victory regained the title for China after the table tennis powerhouse surprisingly missed out on a medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, when Wang and Sun lost in the quarterfinals to eventual bronze medalists Harimoto and Miyu Kihara. A Korean pair won the gold.
Hayata could only tip her hat to the Chinese, who she said really stepped up their game.
“When facing Chinese players on major stages like the world championships, Asian Games or Olympics, they always come back several times stronger than our usual matchups,” Hayata said.
“We entered the match prepared for that, but in the first game, no matter what we tried, we couldn’t get a point and lost it.
“From there, we tried to regroup and had some good plays, but we were outplayed in virtually every technical aspect. It was simply a lack of ability on our part, and when it came to changing tactics, we lacked confidence in each individual technique.”
Earlier in the afternoon session, the finalists both advanced to the gold-medal match with 4-0 victories in the semifinals.
Wang and Kuai dispatched Hong Kong, China’s Doo Hoi Kem and Ng Win Lam 11-6, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 in 29 minutes, while Hayata and Harimoto took the same amount of time in an 11-6, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 rout of Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut and Orawan Paranang.