Youth Olympic Table Tennis was hit hard by 2 lucky side kicks! Lin Jinting/Chen Yanxin narrowly lost to Japan and competed with Thailand for bronze

Chen Yixin (left) and Lin Jinting lost to the Japanese team in the mixed doubles semi-finals and will compete with the Thai team for the bronze medal. (provided by the delegation)

[Reporter Xu Mingli/Comprehensive Report] The Taiwanese combination Lin Jinting/Chen Yixin competed in the top four of the 2026 Dhaka Youth Olympic Table Tennis Mixed Doubles early this morning. In the fourth game, their opponents made two lucky misses in the critical chasing stage. In the end, they lost to Japan's "Star Team" Kawakami Ryusei/Matsushima Misora 1:3. They missed the gold medal. They will compete with Thailand's Pricharyan/Vijit Viriagur for the bronze medal at 2 o'clock tomorrow morning.

Lin Jinting/Chen Yixin defeated South Korea's Lee Seung-soo/Hsu Mingyu 3:1 in the quarterfinals; the Japanese team overthrew China's top seeds Li Hechen/Yao Ruixuan 3:1, showing their ability to win gold.

Facing the menacing "Star Team", the Taiwanese team was suppressed all the way after the start of the game, losing 2 games in a row at 6:11 and 6:11. In the third game, the Taiwanese team gave it a try and led 8:5 and was tied at 9. Chen Yixin also received a yellow card for delaying the game. After the timeout, Lin Jinting took over the serve. The ball was successfully twisted and he was the first to draw at 10:9. However, Xiaolin then received the serve and twisted the ball out of bounds. The two sides entered a "lost battle" and each resolved two game points and tied the game at 13. At the decisive moment, Lin Jinting's backhand serve succeeded and Chen Xinxin also succeeded in his forehand reverse pull. The Taiwan team regained the victory at 15:13.

In the crucial 4th game, the Taiwan team fell behind 2:6 at the beginning and chased for 3 points in a row, forcing the Japanese team to take a timeout. After returning to the game, the Taiwan team made a strong forehand attack and was about to tie the score. Kawakami Ryusei's backhand block was lucky enough to hit the edge of the baseline, and then Lin Jinting's backhand attack went out of bounds. Then Matsushima Misora's forehand attack missed the edge again. The morale of the Taiwan team was severely damaged, and they finally lost 5 points in a row and were out of the game at 5:11.

In another mixed doubles semi-final, Hong Kong's left-left pair Li Qihao/Su Zitong defeated Thailand's Pricharyan/Vijit Viriyagur, who unexpectedly won the U15 mixed doubles gold medal at the World Youth Championship last year, 11:8, 11:9, 10:12, 11:5.

The top 16 singles match will start at 6pm tonight. Lin Jinting will face the 16-year-old Iranian prodigy Faraj in the men's singles top 16. The two sides have won 2 each in the past 4 meetings. The most recent match was at this year's Doha Youth Challenge U19 Boys. In the top 4 of the singles, Xiaolin staged a thrilling win with 2 chasing 3; in the top 16 of the women's singles, Chen Yixin faced Yao Ruixuan. The two had played against each other 3 times before, and Chen Yixin had not won the match yet, but the last time they met was at the 2024 World Youth Championship.