Tokyo Olympics, mixed doubles table tennis medal rounds - fixtures and where to watch live
China’s Xin Xu/Liu Shiwen face Japan’s Jun Mizutani/Mima Ito for the gold medal. France’s Emmanuel Lebesson/Jia Nan Yuan and Taipei’s Lin Yun Ju/ Cheng I Ching will play for bronze.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics mixed doubles table tennis event concludes on Monday.
China’s Xin Xu and Liu Shiwen, the top seeds in the event, face the Japanese second seeds Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito for the gold medal. The loser gets the silver medal The mixed doubles table tennis event is making its Olympic debut at Tokyo.
The bronze medal match, meanwhile, will see France’s Emmanuel Lebesson and Jia Nan Yuan, the eighth seeds, lock horns with Chinese Taipei’s third-seeded team of Lin Yun Ju and Cheng I Ching. The losing team doesn’t get a medal.
In the gold medal match, Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito, the current world No. 2 mixed doubles team, will invariably enjoy home turf advantage at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Furthermore, both Japanese players have the experience of winning Olympic medals. Jun Mizutani is the men’s singles bronze medallist from Rio 2016 and also bagged silver with the Japanese men’s team in Brazil.
Ito, meanwhile, was an integral part of the bronze medal-winning Japanese women’s team at Rio.
However, the Chinese team will be tough to beat. Xin Xu and Liu Shiwen are the reigning mixed doubles world champions and were individually part of the Chinese men’s and women’s team gold medals at Rio, respectively.
The Chinese table tennis players have also looked in fine form in Tokyo, dropping just a single game en route to the gold medal match.
For the bronze medal tie, Lin Yun Ju and Cheng I Ching are overwhelming favourites on paper.
The young Chinese Taipei pair, who knocked out India’s Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal in the first round, is the top-ranked mixed doubles duo in the ITTF standings.
Lin and Cheng’s aggressive game has been impressive to watch and the two cruised through their matches relatively easily before losing to Mizutani and Ito in the semi-finals.
France’s Emmanuel Lebesson/Jia Nan Yuan, though, have been the dark horses so far in this year’s competition. They upset Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem, the fourth seeds, in the quarter-finals before finally being halted by the mighty Chinese duo in the semis.
Tokyo 2020 mixed doubles table tennis gold and bronze medal matches fixtures, schedule and India start times
All times are India Standard Times (IST)
July 26, Monday
Gold medal match
Xin Xu/ Liu Shiwen (China) vs Jun Mizutani/ Mima Ito (Japan) – 5:30 PM IST
Bronze medal match
Emmanuel Lebesson/Jia Nan Yuan (France) vs Lin Yun Ju/ Cheng I Ching (Chinese Taipei) – 4:30 PM IST
Where to watch the Tokyo Olympics mixed doubles table tennis gold and bronze medal matches live in India?
Tokyo Olympics mixed doubles table tennis gold and bronze medal matches will be telecast live on the Sony TEN 2, Sony TEN 2 HD, Sony SIX and Sony SIX HD TV channels in India. Sony TEN 3, Sony TEN 3 HD, Sony TEN 4 and Sony TEN 4 HD will broadcast Tokyo 2020 in regional languages.
Live streaming of the Tokyo Olympics shooting will be available on Sony Liv.
Live broadcast subject to Sony Sports Network.