English news for Thursday, September 24, 2026

Japan's men's table tennis team has won the gold medal^*1 at the Asian Games. In the team final^*2, Japan beat China by three matches^*3 to two. The Japan Table Tennis Association, the group that runs table tennis in Japan, announced the result on Thursday, September 24.

The Asian Games are a big sports event for countries in Asia. This year, the games are in Aichi and Nagoya, in Japan.

The final had five matches. In the first match, Sora Matsushima of Japan lost to Wang Chuqin of China, 2 games to 3. In the second match, Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan beat Wen Ruibo, 3 games to 1. In the third match, Shunsuke Togami of Japan lost to Lin Shidong, 1 game to 3. China was ahead, two matches to one.

Then Harimoto played again. In the fourth match, he beat Wang Chuqin, 3 games to 0. Now the score was two matches each. In the last match, Matsushima beat Wen Ruibo, 3 games to 1.

Japan won three of the five matches, and China won two. Japan took the gold medal.

1. *1 gold medal: the prize for first place in a sports event
2. *2 final: the last match in a competition; the winner is the champion
3. *3 matches: games between two players or two teams in a sport

On September 24, 2026, a research group announced a new study about the health of university students. The group is led by Yujiro Yamanaka, an associate professor^*1 at a school of education.

The study looked at students in Hokkaido, a large island in the north of Japan. COVID-19 spread there early, before most other parts of Japan. At that time, universities were closed for a period. The researchers^*2 looked closely at how the students' health changed while the universities were closed. They found that the students' health got worse during this time.

The researchers also found the main reasons for these changes. Changes in sleep and changes in exercise were the main causes when the students' health got worse. They were also the main causes when the students' health got better.

1. *1 associate professor: a teacher at a university, one step below a full professor
2. *2 researchers: people who study something carefully to find new facts