The 2025 World Table Tennis Championships upset Lin Shidong/Kuo Man, Yoshimura Maharu/Oto Satsuki caused wild praise on the official website

The 2025 World Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar, entered its fifth match day on May 21, with Japan's Maharu Yoshimura/Satsuki Oto beating world No. 1 Lin Shidong/Kuai Man of China 3-1 (8-11, 11-5, 13-11, 12-10) to reach the semi-finals and secure a bronze medal or above.

Yoshimura/Oto reached the mixed doubles semifinals

Maharu Yoshimura/Satsuki Oto, who lost in the first game, won two games in a row to enter the semifinals after regaining the second game. Moments after the victory, the 31-year-old Yoshimura erupted in joy and fell to the court in a triumphant pose.

The moment after the win

Official media also expressed surprise at the upset that knocked out world No. 1 Maharu Yoshimura/Satsuki Oto. The ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) recalled that the fifth day of this World Table Tennis Championships began with the big upset of the No. 1 seeds Lin Shidong/Kuaiman in the quarter-finals to Japan's Maharu Yoshimura/Satsuki Oto. Yoshimura was in very good form that day, seizing opportunities on key points many times, and this time his first partner Satsuki Oto contributed to Japan's mixed doubles medal at this World Table Tennis Championships with a calm match.

After the competition, Yoshimura said, "I didn't expect to win a medal even if I was over 30 years old. Japanese media said that Yoshimura Maharu, who won the mixed doubles gold medal with Kasumi Ishikawa at the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships, is looking forward to reaching the top of the world again after 8 years.