TOKYO (Reuters): Japan’s Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito hugged each other and cried as they clung to victory against Germany yesterday, while China’s powerful pairing of Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen said they will take a nap after winning the mixed doubles quarterfinals yesterday.

Mizutani, 32, and 20-year-old Ito got off to a strong start in the first game with an 11-8 win, but German paddlers Patrick Franziska and Petrissa Solja fought back against the Japanese duo to tie the match at 3-3.

With a pat on the back from her partner in the last point of the deciding seventh game, Ito confidently secured victory for the pair with a serve that their opponent couldn’t return.

World number two Xu and reigning world champion Liu cruised their way to a convincing triumph against their Romanian opponents Ovidiu Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs in a 4-0 clean sweep.

The Chinese duo will be pitted against French paddlers Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jia Nan, who clinched their ticket to the semi-finals in a heated battle against Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong.

The mixed doubles made its Olympic debut this year at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, with 16 pairs competing for the first Olympics gold in the best-of-seven matches.

Elsewhere, Taiwan’s Lin Yun Ju and Cheng I Ching won 4-2 against Lee Sangsu and Jeon Jihee of South Korea.

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