Japan, China sweep semifinals to set up women’s table tennis final

Japan and China turned the women’s draw at London 2026 back into the sport’s most familiar showdown, but the final will only be competitive if Japan can stop China from taking control early. The centenary ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships, staged 100 years after the first Worlds in London in 1926, has already delivered its expected heavyweight ending, with both powers sweeping their semifinals 3-0 before meeting again at OVO Arena Wembley.

Japan’s path through Germany was tighter than the scoreline suggested. Ying Han opened brightly for Germany, using a patient, controlled game to force Miwa Harimoto into errors and give the Germans an early foothold. Harimoto settled, stretched rallies and turned the match around in a 3-1 win that kept Germany from setting the tempo for the tie. That mattered, because once Japan were able to dictate the rhythm, the rest of the semifinal tilted their way.

Hina Hayata then produced the defining comeback of the afternoon. Sabine Winter pushed her to the edge, moving 2-0 ahead and putting Japan in danger of a prolonged fight. Hayata adjusted by attacking more aggressively down Winter’s forehand and reducing the effect of the German backhand variation, and the change in tactics carried her to a five-game win. Honoka Hashimoto closed it out with a straight-games victory over Nina Mittelham, sending Japan into a sixth consecutive women’s team final.

That run underlines how deep Japan remain in the team format. The country has collected 49 medals across the men’s and women’s team events at the World Team Championships, but its last gold came 55 years ago. To end that drought, Japan will need more than a steady night. Harimoto has to survive the first contact against China’s pace, Hayata has to play forward rather than defend from behind, and Hashimoto must keep the tie from slipping into the kind of quick, clinical pattern China prefer.

China brought exactly that level of control against Romania. Sun Yingsha crushed Elizabeta Samara in straight games while giving up only 12 points, a warning shot that immediately put Romania under pressure. Wang Manyu then neutralized Bernadette Szocs, one of the players most capable of troubling Chinese opposition, and Kuai Man finished the sweep against Andreea Dragoman.

China’s sixth straight women’s team final also extends a record of dominance that includes a 23rd world team title in Busan in 2024. The final, scheduled for Sunday at 11:00 at OVO Arena Wembley, will again pit the sport’s most decorated program against its longest-running challenger. For Japan, the task is simple to state and hard to execute: win the first rhythm battle, and the title match can breathe; lose it, and it risks becoming another familiar Chinese procession.