Chinese-born Kaii Yoshida and defending champion Sayaka Hirano won the singles titles at the table tennis national championships on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Yoshida beat 42-year-old defending champion Seiko Iseki 11-4, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 in the men's final in a meeting between Chinese-born players at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium for his first national title.
"I entered the tournament expecting to win," said Yoshida, who gained Japanese citizenship in March last year and was making his national championships debut.
Nineteen-year-old Hirano defeated Asami Suemasu, who beat Ai Fukuhara in the sixth round on Saturday, 11-9, 14-12, 11-7, 11-8 to win the national title in women's singles for the second straight year.
"I wanted to win for all the people who supported me. I was most cautious of Ai (Fukuhara)," said Hirano.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.