Recently crowned table tennis mixed doubles Olympic champion Mima Ito added a women's singles bronze to her Tokyo Games medal haul with a 4-1 win over Singapore's Yu Mengyu on Thursday.
Ito came back from a game down to secure a 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 win in 47 minutes at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium after losing in the semifinals to China's Sun Yingsha.
Despite settling for bronze, Ito became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic table tennis singles medal.
She has already made history in Tokyo, teaming up with veteran Jun Mizutani to give Japan its first-ever Olympic gold in the sport after a stirring comeback in the mixed doubles final on Monday.
Sun will play Chen Meng in an all-Chinese final after the top seed beat Yu in straight games 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 11-6.
In her semifinal, the 20-year-old Ito enjoyed a good spell at the start of the second game and twice led by six points, but she looked deflated after Sun rallied to take the game and dominate the rest of the match.
"I was unable to turn the match around. I paid the price for not being able to close out the second game," said Ito. "It's bitterly disappointing. It's not like my form is that bad."