Sora Matsushima Miwa Harimoto vs Kaho Akae Yuma Tsuboi FINALS 2026 All Japan Championships

The finals of the mixed doubles has come up to two pairs only. We have the singles champions, Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto, against Kaho Akai and Yuma Tsuboi. I have not followed all the rising stars and club members of Japan, so I am not familiar with the other pair, but for sure these two must be strong as well as they have reached the finals. Miwa already has two gold medals in the All Japan Table Tennis Championships, coming from the singles and juniors division, and another from the seniors division. With the mixed doubles and women's doubles, she could historically be the first to grab four medals in a single tournament. Well let's take a look, and let's notice the hand signals of these pairs as they battle it out here in the finals of the mixed doubles in All Japan Table Tennis Championships 2026. What a good rally there and a good kill shot by Kaho Akai. Kaho Akai is expected to join the Asian Table Tennis Cup in China, which will commence in a few days. She is to step up and join Team Japan in playing in one of the biggest tournaments in the world, the Asian Cup. A near chop block. Notice the hand signals of these two despite being receivers. What they are actually communicating is the way he will return the ball and his placement. It's like he is saying, I am going to try to flick the ball on the far right side, just be prepared, somewhat like that, and they are the only ones who could read their signs. Do you have a hand sign with your doubles partner as well? Yuma thought the underspin was killed, but Miwa kept on pushing with those short underspin returns. A few days after this, Miwa will fly to China to join the Asian Cup as well. She will be joined by Hina Hayata, Honoka Hashimoto, Miyu Nagasaki, and Kaho Akai as I mentioned a while ago. The era of Mima Ito and Miyu Hirano is over, I guess. Yuma is having a hard time in those underspin returns. It was also evident a while ago when he failed to return Miwa's underspin return. He needs to estimate his racket angle in situations like that one. You gotta love watching those flicks. It is a good offensive counter against an underspin serve or return. Look at the stance of Sora Matsushima. Bend a little and start generating the force from below. This will create a good arc and it will have a stronger power. Sora is just a menace in his flicks. What a good ball placement in that flick. Yuma was expecting it to go on the opposite, as backhand flicks usually goes in the diagonal. It takes pure skill to redirect the ball on the parallel side of the table. Sora is indeed showing he is the best in Japan right now. Has he surpassed the skill of Tomokazu? What do you think? Good attack by Miwa followed by Sora. Don't you just love those crispy sounds coming from the ball? Despite Yuma's heavy underspin return, Miwa was able to flick that ball. Look at their stance when flicking. That was just fabulous. I didn't notice the scores that much but what a good run here by Yuma and Kaho. They are now in almost the same score as Sora and Miwa. Look at that ritual before the serve. Kidding aside, that is actually a sign as to what he is going to serve. You may signal for the spin of the ball, the length of the service, and if it is a fast or slow ball. See? Those enchantment works. If you are a receiver, you can signal for the type of return. Like drop it short, do short underspin return so I can flick it in return, or you may flick it if it is underspin, somewhat like those ones. This will give your teammate an advantage and a good ball anticipation. Communication is the key. Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto now leads 2-0. By the way, this mixed doubles finale is best of 5. Just one more game and Kaho and Yuma will take the silver medals. Unless, of course, if they can make a big comeback from this one. You know why Yuma's flick went out of bounds? It's because he read the ball spin wrong. When flicking a topspin or dead ball, it will definitely go out of bounds. He thought that was an underspin so he did a flick, but flicks are for underspin. If he did a drive, he could have killed that ball. Spin reading is a big key in having a high rate of return. Sora and Miwa is what makes them tough. They have competed globally, and their follow-ups are just too good. Every pair has their own way of doing their signals. In this case, you can see Yuma pointing at his racket. This indicates that he would catch the ball on that side. Usually if they point downwards, the go for underspin return, and so on. What signals have you made with your pair that is unique from others? Failed counter and a failed return. This gives you the hope that despite fighting people that you know are better, always strive and do your best as they are not perfect and they can commit mistakes. The ball is round as they say, you may be on top at times or under. That was a close fight, and despite fighting the best of Japan, they were able to close out the scores. Kaho and Yuma played really well against the champions. Last episode, we saw Miwa took another gold. This composes her 4 gold medals in a single All Japan Championship, making her the only player to achieve this by far. Congratulations to Miwa Harimoto and Sora Matsushima!