Ai Fukuhara and partner Ryusuke Sakamoto came from behind to beat top-seeded Takanori Shimoyama and Akiko Takeda on Thursday and advance to the mixed doubles semifinals of the table tennis national championships.
The 16-year-old Fukuhara and Sakamoto, who plays in the German Bundesliga, eliminated last year's runners-up with a 5-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-9 victory in the quarterfinals at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Fukuhara, whose only national titles came in the women's doubles the last two years, reached the last four of the mixed doubles for the first time.