Led by veteran Jun Mizutani, Japan got off to a winning start in the table tennis men's team competition on Monday, easing to a 3-0 win over Australia at the Tokyo Games.
Mizutani and Koki Niwa defeated Hu Heming and Yan Xin 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 in the opening doubles at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Tomokazu Harimoto and Mizutani then won their respective singles matches to send Japan into the quarterfinals.
Harimoto, who made a surprise early exit in men's singles last week, beat David Powell 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 and mixed doubles champion Mizutani completed the rout with an 11-4, 11-1, 11-9 demolition of Yan.