OSAKA -- Akiko Takeda and Mayu Kawagoe edged Croatians Tamara Boros and Eldijana Aganovic in the women's doubles quarterfinals of the table tennis world meet Wednesday to secure Japan's first medal in the event in 26 years. The Japanese pair assured themselves of at least a bronze medal by advancing to the semifinals with a 23-21, 16-21, 21-19, 24-22 win over the Croatian duo.
Earlier in the day, Takeda and Kawagoe upended European champions Csilla Batorfi and Krisztina Toth of Hungary 24-26, 21-12, 21-18 in the round of 16. In Sunday's semifinals, Takeda and Kawagoe will meet Olympic silver medalists Yang Ying and Sun Jin of China, who rolled 21-18, 21-17, 21-12 over South Korea's Lee Eun Sil and Suk Eun Mi.
The last Japanese to win a medal in the women's double event at the world championships was Shoko Takahashi, who teamed with Maria Alexandru of Romania for the gold medal at the Calcutta meet in 1975.