Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino dramatically reversed their fortunes to land a devastating blow to Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai and enter the mixed doubles semifinals of Paris 2024.
The Japanese pair repeated their performance from Tokyo 2020 at the same stage, but the pattern was vastly different. The Thais were flying and had a sizeable lead, but Watanabe and Higashino chipped away at the lead; once they edged ahead to take the first game, the Thais’ challenge suddenly collapsed: 23-21 21-14.
“I’m happy but I want more,” said Watanabe. “Three years back (at the Olympics) we lost in the semifinals, so we want to do better.”
The fourth seeds take on top seeds Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong, who took another step towards the only major title to elude them. Zheng/Huang blew aside their compatriots Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping 21-16 21-15.
“It was a quarterfinal but the intensity was like a final,” said Zheng. “At the last Olympics we lost to Dong Ping and she knows how to play the Olympics, so we prepared a lot. We knew today will be a tough match, so we are thrilled we managed to win the match.”
In the lower half of the draw, world champions Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung had little trouble overcoming Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet, and will next face compatriots Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun, who dashed Malaysian hopes with a 21-19 21-14 result over Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei.
→ Results