FULL MATCH Miwa Harimoto vs Kim Nayeong Asian Cup 2026

In the World Table Tennis Contenders Dagreb 2023 in the main draw, Harimoto dominated 3-0, or 3-0, sorry. Then, of course, in 2024, the ITTF World Cup Macau 2024, Harimoto again won 4-0. Again in 2024, at the Asian Championships, Harimoto won 3-0. In the same event, it was Harimoto that won 3-2, and in Doha 2026, Harimoto won 3-0. Here we go, with Harimoto starting the game. Lovely change of direction, quick attack from her. Kim Naeyong holding her own, that ball moving well straight away from the surface, 1-1. One lap, sorry. Lap 2. Let's play a very, very quick game, Miwa Harimoto. Sometimes it's hard to believe she's 17. Well, it happens too, even with Felix LeBrun. He's always guessing his age when he was a youngster, and he's knocking off some of the clients. A lovely play there, terrific piece from Miwa Harimoto. She's a very strong looper, fierce attacking style, Miwa. 3-1. As she drops the point, it's now 3-1. Very, very consistent backhand. She's also got the ability of that sudden attack, pretty much like her brother actually, but has her own style. Great mental strength. She's been a focused player, right? So, you know, she lost 2-4 to Suning Xia in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Shenzhen Asian Cup. Suning Xia, of course, would finally go on to, well, fall to Wang Manyu. Wang Manyu won the championship last year. 2-4. Just a few errors being tossed out there from Miwa Harimoto by Kim Naeyong. It's now 2-4. Kim Naeyong, also a right-handed shakehand looper. Has an outstanding serve, opts for a high toss, got a lot of spin variations. Good forehand attack, very good backhand flick, very fast. She's not an extremely pacey player like Harimoto is. She's got the ability to reply most often. It's now 2-5. Good rhythm, good temperament at the table. 5-3. It's a 5-3, did catch the edge there. I think Harimoto was just about expecting it to drop out. 5-4. Well, that's not played by Kim Naeyong. Harimoto just reading the turn of that ball a bit wrong. It's now 5-4. 4-6. 4-6, as Harimoto looks to hold on to that lead. Gets the benefit off the net. 5-6. Kim Naeyong holding her own. 5-6. 6-4. Sixth goal now. And Harimoto just... Such a big difference from a player like Miwa Harimoto. And we saw Hanoka, you know, Hashimoto earlier. Hashimoto, of course, relies on a great amount of variance. Harimoto just keeps coming at you, and it's a very explosive style of play. 6-7. And the Harimoto siblings, you know, have both been top ten players for some time. It's quite interesting. It's now 6-7. Very calm and composed Kim Naeyong in this game. 7-all. Well, needed to draw one back in at 7-all. That's a bit of side spin on that serve. Miwa Harimoto. 8-7. One of the benefits of, you know, well, key playing points of Kim Naeyong is she's a two-winged attacker. She's got equal strength with the forehand and backhand and the ability to reply with both, as well as attack. 8-all. Dragging that one out. It's got to be 8-all now. This is certainly turning out to be another strong matchup here. 8-9. Harimoto just faltering there, and she knows that. Game point here for Kim Naeyong. The Harimoto's have a very interesting history. Miwa was born Zhang Meihei in Sendai, in the Miyagi Prefecture. Her father, Yu Harimoto, was born Zhang Yu, and her mother was actually Zhang Ling. Both are former professional table tennis players from Sichuan, China, who moved over to Japan. Well played there by Miwa Harimoto. Her parents moved from China to Japan in 1998, and her mother, Zhang Ling, at the peak of her career, represented the Chinese national table tennis team at the 43rd World Table Tennis Championships in Tianjin. Well, it's all in the genes. It really is. 11-9. Game point. Well, parents from Sichuan too, but here... Second game. Game to serve. Love all. Second game. Kim Naeyong to start with the serve. One love. The one love gets caught for her. One all. Harimoto getting back into it. One-two. Two errors there on the part of Miwa Harimoto. Two all. Three-two. Three all. Well, this time, Harimoto, well, drawing back into it, it's three all currently. Three-four. The three-four currently as it stands. And Harimoto, well, unleashing that lovely backhand straight off the racket of Kim Naeyong. No reply there. Just generating a bit of pace. Looking to gain her composure back again. And off the edge of the bat, to be precise. Top edge. Kim Naeyong to serve it for all. Four-five. This battle of the lead by one point. It's taking a bit of time. I think it's so important to just be able to, well, hold your own here. Six-four. Seven-four. Quick movement there. Kim Naeyong almost had it together. Seven-four now. Harimoto, well, dominating that. Five-seven. Kim Naeyong not willing to, well, throw it in because she's well, already got well, one point, one game in the bag. It's a very, very interesting match-up when you think about it. You know, both these, well, paddlers, just three years apart from each other. Five-seven. Again, here from Kim Naeyong as she serves at five-seven. I do like the way that she's approached this game. Six-seven. Amazing. Just amazing. Kim Naeyong here now takes it at six-seven. And Harimoto is facing a very tough challenge here. Eight-six. That flick's definitely got to work in her favor. She leads eight-six. She's got to win this game, well, to just keep an even Stevens. One of the key things that I did forget to mention about the Hainan province when I was waxing eloquent about it, and I will mention that. Nine-six. And Harimoto, well, throwing Kim Naeyong into an error there. It's now nine-six. One of the most, you know, popular things in this area and especially is the food. Hainan cuisine. It's absolutely delicious. Harimoto at nine-six. Well, had to spread the brow for that one. She's won that rally. Now at game point, Miwa Harimoto looking to step back onto level terms against Kim Naeyong. It's been a tough game. It's been a tough one for certain. And whoever wins this will have earned the fruits of their labor. Eleven-six. Game to Miwa. As Harimoto, well, ends at eleven-six to claim the second game. It's now one-all onto the third game. Miwa Harimoto up against Kim Naeyong. We've got a match-up. We've got two amazing young talents here who certainly set the stage for probably what could be one of the tightest matches. We did have a fantastic match that just went by. And that was when Chunyi of China faced off with Honoka Hashimoto of Japan. And what a game. What an absolute beautiful match-up. Now here we have Kim Naeyong with the challenge against Miwa Harimoto. That's off the edge. You would believe, but it's better off the net for Harimoto this time. Two-love. A love-two as Kim Naeyong will serve. One-two. One-two. Three-one. Bit off the net there. Harimoto lead. Three-one. She's just looking to draw her opponent into making a few errors here, and I think that would be foremost on her mind. Harimoto to serve. Four-one. Miwa will serve. It's more or less just slight variation and a spin every time she does serve. Straight off the edge, but that's going to work for her for one. One-five. When you talk about variation, I think Kim Naeyong was definitely looking to get that straight on, you know, just inside the edge. But sometimes the risk factor can be there. You've got to be pinpoint accurate in those shots, and she has been in the first game. Just a tad bit unsettled there as Harimoto's race to a four-point lead. A lovely flick there. Just the turn with the forehand needed to, well, just expose the face of that racket just a little bit. I think she's done well. Kim Naeyong now at two-five. Six-two. Right back at you. It's six-two as Harimoto serves. Six-three. And I did say this earlier, you know, your approach in the matchup is so very important. I do remember when Wang Chuxin was playing out his game. And I do remember his challenger was from Chinese Taipei. Three-seven. Straight up against the net. Three-seven. Four-seven. Like that, a bit too far. And I was just saying this earlier, Chinese Taipei's Peng Yixin playing against the world number one. And what a way he approached that game, you know, was fearless. Of course, Wang Chuxin did go on to win it, but that approach is so important for every paddler. Well played. Eight-four. A placement there from Miwa Harimoto. It's eight-four now. Putting it to the backhand of Kim Naeyong, and just a little bit out of reach. Just making it tougher to reply. Better word it. Eight-four. Harimoto serves. Eight-five. This time, Kim Naeyong, quick reply. Lovely backhand flick from her. Not a speed player, but she's got the ability to reply well. Five-nine. Going to cost Kim Naeyong a point. It's now five-nine. Lovely backhand flick there. That's going to work for her. Miwa Harimoto now at game point. Seven-five. I'm not even going to say a score point, but it's worked for Harimoto. This could be pushed into a five. Well, first game. Kim serves. Kim decided only if Kim Naeyong takes part this game. Oh, that's a stunning backhand flick there. Miwa Harimoto will claim the first point. Looking to be very assertive in this matchup here. That's the second time around, pushing it back towards her opponent. Harimoto to serve. This time, Kim Naeyong pops up beautifully. Just a gentle bit. You want to slice it close to the net. She does that well. That's two-one. One-three. Always an opportunity in waiting. Harimoto claims another point. Two-three. Three-all. So three-all now. She's trying to figure out which of these players will be very keen on getting a timeout. But neither has taken the air, so that's the interesting part. Three-all. Harimoto, just a few little obstacles there for her. Kim Naeyong. Now three-four. And this time, Harimoto will hold her own. Getting a bit of backspin in there a couple of times over in this game. It's four-all. Expecting that to just tap out. Kim Naeyong just missing the edge of the table quite a bit. She's trying to be a bit assertive with that backhand. It's now four-five. Six-four. Harimoto just holding her own here for the time being. And Kim Naeyong calling for a timeout. I think it was six-four. Miwa Harimoto leads six-four in this fourth game, and it's very, very important for Kim Naeyong because she can't afford to drop this game. She will drop the match. And I think that's the reason why the timeout was so essential. Six-five. Five-seven. Very well served here by Miwa Harimoto. She'll hold the lead two points ahead. I think that should be just good enough for her to hold on. Kim Naeyong now to serve. Five-eight. Harimoto will dominate this. Well, excellent play between these two paddlers. Well, quick-fire exchanges. Lovely change of direction on both sides as they go across the table. Here's Kim Naeyong. Serves at five-eight. Eight-six. Harimoto off the edge. It's eight-six now. Eight-seven. That backhand flick letting her down. Just looking to loop that over nicely, but it's eight-seven. Eight-seven. Harimoto will resume with a serve at eight-seven. I do believe there's one thing she wouldn't want to drop this game. She's going to just push that into a five-twelve game decider. Slight advantage here for her. And really set that up well. Threw her opponent into that. Knew she was going to go in for the execution after that reply. And that's well done. Lovely backhand there from her. Nine-seven. Kim Naeyong now to serve at seven-nine. Seven-ten. Harimoto as she moves to match point. It's now seven-ten. Oh, what an event this is turning out to be. Seven-ten. Harimoto will blame the spoils here as she wins three straight games after dropping the first run against her Korean counterpart, Kim Naeyong. It's been a good event here for us.