Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino gave Japan its first badminton medal of the Tokyo Olympics when they defeated Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet 2-0 in the bronze medal match of mixed doubles on Friday.
The world No. 5 duo brought Japan its fourth Olympic medal in the sport as Watanabe became Japan's first male badminton medalist.
At the moment the duo won the bronze medal match, Watanabe yelled and dropped to the floor, extending his arms and legs with joy while Higashino celebrated by jumping up and down.
"Wining a medal is a big thing to be proud of," Watanabe said after the match.
Watanabe and Higashino took the first game 21-17, then held on to win a riveting second game 23-21, coming from behind to end the 49-minute match against the world No. 13 pair from Hong Kong at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza.
Watanabe, a native of Tokyo, and Higashino, who hails from Hokkaido, both entered badminton powerhouse Tomioka No. 1 Junior High School in Fukushima Prefecture to develop themselves as badminton players. But when Watanabe was a freshman and Higashino was a second-year student, the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 affected their areas. They feel many people helped them by developing an environment in which they could continue to play badminton, and the duo has said they wanted to return the favor to such people by performing well in the Games.
The two subsequently advanced to Tomioka High School in the prefecture to continue playing the sport. The duo won the mixed doubles at the All England Open in March, raising hopes for winning a medal at the Tokyo Games.
The color of the medal is not quite what they really aimed at, but it certainly was a big achievement for the Japanese badminton world.
Meanwhile, Nozomi Okuhara, bronze medalist in badminton women's singles at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, failed to earn a medal at the Tokyo Games, losing to China's He Bing Jiao at a quarterfinal match 1-2.
"I don't feel regret," Okuhara said. "I think this is the culmination of what I have been doing for the past five years."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
