On May 6, Beijing time, the table tennis WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam ushered in a key matchup, the mixed doubles ace combination of Japan and Germany - Tomokazu Zhangmoto/Hina Hayata, Qiu Dang/Mitterham met in a narrow way, and although the first two wasted match points many times, they finally won the opening victory with a big score of 3-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals to play against the Austrian pair Galdos/Polkanova.
In this competition, Tomokazu Zhangmoto/Hina Hayada and Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha are in the top half of the bracket, and the two sides may have a fight before the final.
Tomokazu Zhangmoto/Hina Hayada and Qiu Dang/Mitterham are all strong mixed doubles pairs in foreign associations, the former has won the runner-up of the World Table Tennis Championships twice, and the latter is a European champion pair, but objectively speaking, they will not be a stronger threat to the national table tennis than the other two pairs of predecessors - Mizutani Hayabusa/Ito Misei and Francesca/Solga.
Tomokazu Haramoto/Hina Hayada have not been doing well in the last few foreign tournaments, and now they have met the ace pair of the German team in the first match of the Grand Slam, and even if the Japanese pair are ranked higher, they are not sure of winning, and they may be upset at any time.
After the start of the first game, the Germans played more aggressively, Qiu Dang's direct shot was very fast in the table, and Mitterham's follow-up was also very timely, and they quickly took the lead, but the Japanese pair adjusted their form after a lot of battles, and used stronger spin to break the defense through the serve, and soon achieved a reversal, and finally won 11-8.
In the second game, Tomokazu Zhangmoto/Hina Hayada greatly boosted their morale, and soon took the lead, got five game points, and finally won 11-5, forcing the opponent into a desperate situation with relative ease, and played the style of the world runner-up.
In the third game, Tomokazu Zhangmoto/Hina Hayada came up and scored three points in a row, forcing the German pair to call a timeout to adjust, after all, it was on the verge of elimination, even if Qiu Dang/Mitham couldn't think of a way to counterattack, interrupting the rhythm of the opponent's winning streak might have miraculous results, and as a result, the two won consecutive counterattacks when they were given match points, and pulled back a city with a thrilling 15-13, refusing to be swept clean sheets.
In the fourth game, although the Japanese pair fell behind at the beginning but quickly reversed, and then fell behind 8-10 and were taken by the opponent to get the game point, but they quickly chased 10 draws, and finally sealed the victory at 14-12, thus advancing to the quarterfinals without danger and continuing to attack the championship.