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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's female paddlers failed to secure an Olympic podium finish as the last Olympic Games's runners-up of the team event lost to Germany in five sets, four of which in five games here on Sunday.
The last score for German Chinese Han Ying, however, was apparently a return ball kissing the lower edge of the table that should not grant Han the winning point, but the umpire did not give the right gesture immediately before the Germans rushing in to celebrate.
Ai Fukuhara, who should have tied 10-10 with Han in the fifth set's fifth game and still got chance of turning the table, burst into tears alongside with her teammates Mima Ito and Kasumi Ishikawa.
Ito was the first Japanese player starting to cry over the defeat after opening the match for her team and losing both her sets, but she walked a long way from the court to drop a half empty bottle of hers, with tears still on the 15-year-old's face.
It will be the first time for Germany, however, to finish with a medal of Olympic women's table tennis.
Han, who denied a heroic six straight points comeback from Fukuhara in the end, laid herself on the floor after taking the final two points to secure the victory, with the joy of making up for her second-set defeat to Kasumi Ishikawa 6-11, 9-11, 11-6,11-6, 11-8.
Petrissa Solja was the one having laid the base for the European team's win, beating Ito 5-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10 to open the semi.
The German native scored her second point on sets by teaming up with Shan Xiaona in the doubles to win over Fukuhara and Ito, 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, before Ishikawa beat Shan 11-2, 13-11, 14-12 to force the fourth set.
It's not Japan's worst result in the short history of Olympic team event, with them failing to make semifinals in Beijing 2008.
Earlier on Sunday, the men's team event got to know the semifinalists as China booked a last four clash with South Korea and Japan set to pick Germany.
