The title defense that began in Hiroshima and was snapped in Nagoya. How did China talk about its defeat in the Asian Games men’s team final?

“The three players who competed today all gave everything they had,” Head Coach Wang Hao

At the Asian Games men’s team final held on September 24, 2026, at Sky Hall Toyota in Aichi, Japan’s men’s team defeated China 3–2 to claim its first title in 60 years.

After taking a 2–1 lead after the third match and putting the title within reach, Tomokazu. HARIMOTO, playing fourth, beat world champion WANG Chuqin in straight games with rock-solid offense and defense. Then 19-year-old Sora MATSUSHIMA closed it out, handing China a historic defeat.

China had been on an eight-consecutive-title run in the men’s team event, the longest among both men and women, since the 12th edition in Hiroshima in 1994. All eight finals were against South Korea. Although China struggled in the 1994 and 1998 finals, conceding a point to South Korea’s ace Kim Taek-soo, it won all six finals from the 2002 edition onward by 3–0. It had shown overwhelming strength, but this time it was swallowed up by Japan’s momentum.