China to face Japan in Olympic table tennis mixed doubles final

TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- China's Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen eased past a French pair on Sunday to set up a final clash against Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito of hosts Japan in the first ever Olympic table tennis mixed doubles tournament.

The top-seeded Chinese duo, who are also the reigning world champions, denied Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jianan of France in four straight sets to reach the final, while Mizutani and Ito won over Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei 4-1.

"We've prepared for an Olympic final for a long time. No matter who stands at the other end of the table, we will face them with full confidence," Liu said.

Xu and Liu saw their most severe challenge late in the third set, where their French rivals held a four-point lead, their biggest of the match.

Back to the court for the fourth set, Xu and Liu played an even more thorough game, leaving no chance at all for their opponents and wrapping the semifinal 11-5, 11-6, 13-11, 11-7.

"We watched what they did this morning, and we knew we must play an overwhelming game to ensure a victory, otherwise it could have been more difficult for us to beat them," Xu said after the match.

Earlier on Sunday, Lebesson and Yuan had upset Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong, China 4-3 in over an hour to set up their semifinal encounter with Xu and Liu.

"The third set was a key point when we had been trailing all the way. But Xu Xin had my back and I had faith in us too, which helped us make through to the final victory," said Liu, 29, who is also the current world title holder in the women's singles.

Their French opponent Yuan, who was born in China before moving to France in 2003 and later taking French citizenship, felt pity not to have won a set against the Chinese.

"If we had won the third set, there could have been a chance for us to produce a different game," said the 36-year-old.

"But I'm satisfied with my performance today, and my partner played good table tennis as well," she added. "The Chinese are way better than us, and there are no regrets as we gave our all."