Japan pulled off the biggest upset in the inaugural Robot Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships to reach the final after packing off top seeds and favourites China 3-1 in the semi-finals at the Nguyen Du Cultural Sports Club in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.
The Japanese displayed plenty of fighting spirit and even head coach Park Joo Bong was surprised with the "Saumrai Spirit" his players. In the same breath Joo Bong did not take the credit away from China.
"China is still the best team in the world. We won because of our tremendous fighting spirit…it even surprised me. I did not expect my team to win the men's singles"
It was a stunning comeback by the Japanese who lost the mixed doubles in the opening match with China's Zhang Nan-Chen Qingchen carving out a 22-20, 21-19 win over Japanese youngsters Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino in 41 minutes.
However, all that changed when Kenta Nishimoto tore the seedings upside down as the Samurais came back fighting from a 1-0 deficit to stun top seeds and favourites China 3-1 in the semi-finals in the inaugural Robot Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships at the Nguyen Du Sports Center.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS (Sat 18 Feb)
JAPAN 3 CHINA 1
(Japan first)
MS: Kenta Nishimoto beat Shi Yuqi 10-21m 21-19, 21-17
WS: Akane Yamaguchi beat Chen Yufei 21-15, 21-10
MD: Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda beat Li Junhui-Zheng Siwei 21-16, 16-21, 21-16
XD: Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino lost to Zhang Nan-Chen Qingchen 20-22, 19-21
