London: Taiwan’s mixed table tennis team of Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching defeated their Japanese counterparts on Friday (local time) at a World Table Tennis (WTT) event in London, advancing to the finals scheduled for Sunday.

According to Focus Taiwan, the world No. 11 pair of Lin and Cheng overcame Japan’s world No. 4 team of Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto with a 3-1 victory at the WTT Star Contender London 2025. The event, held from Tuesday to Sunday at the Copper Box Arena in the British capital, witnessed an intense match that initially saw the Japanese team taking an early lead.

The Japanese duo started strong, securing a 5-1 advantage in the first game. Despite a resilient effort from Lin and Cheng, who closed the gap to 6-7, Matsushima and Harimoto managed to clinch the first game 11-7. The second game was tightly contested, with Lin finding his rhythm to help the Taiwanese duo edge out an 11-9 win.

With the match tied at 1-1, Lin and Cheng displayed a cohesive performance in the third game, winning it 11-8. The Taiwanese team capitalized on their momentum in the fourth game, delivering a dominant performance to secure an 11-5 victory, thus advancing to the finals.

The semifinal clash marked the second career meeting between the Taiwanese and Japanese teams, with Lin and Cheng having previously defeated Matsushima and Harimoto 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2025 US Smash in July. Although they were stopped in the semifinals by South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon in the US event, Lin and Cheng now face Hong Kong’s world No. 5 team of Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem in Sunday’s final.

Taiwan’s Lin and Cheng, long-time mixed doubles partners, have a successful history together, including a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and another bronze at the 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea.