Table tennis: Tomokazu Harimoto, Hina Hayata take mixed doubles silver at worlds

DURBAN, South Africa (Kyodo) -- Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata took mixed doubles silver at the world table tennis championships Friday following a 3-0 loss to China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha.

In a replay of the previous world championship final in 2021, world No. 1 duo Wang and Sun once again consigned the No. 2 Japanese pair to runners-up, winning 11-6, 11-2, 11-7 in Durban, South Africa.

Harimoto and Hayata had advanced to their second consecutive final with a 3-1 semifinal win over China's Lin Shidong and Kuai Man.

Japan's Miyu Nagasaki and Miyuu Kihara claimed women's doubles bronze after losing their semifinal 3-1 to China's Wang Yidi and Chen Meng.

The Japanese pair won the opening game before the seventh-ranked Chinese took control of the contest and advanced to the final with an 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 13-11 victory.