RIO DE JANEIRO， Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's female paddlers failed to secure an Olympic podium finish as the last Olympic Games's runners-up of the team event lost to Germany in five sets， four of which in five games here on Sunday.


The last score for German Chinese Han Ying， however， was apparently a return ball kissing the lower edge of the table that should not grant Han the winning point， but the umpire did not give the right gesture immediately before the Germans rushing in to celebrate.


Ai Fukuhara， who should have tied 10-10 with Han in the fifth set's fifth game and still got chance of turning the table， burst into tears alongside with her teammates Mima Ito and Kasumi Ishikawa.


Ito was the first Japanese player starting to cry over the defeat after opening the match for her team and losing both her sets， but she walked a long way from the court to drop a half empty bottle of hers， with tears still on the 15-year-old's face.


It will be the first time for Germany， however， to finish with a medal of Olympic women's table tennis.


Han， who denied a heroic six straight points comeback from Fukuhara in the end， laid herself on the floor after taking the final two points to secure the victory， with the joy of making up for her second-set defeat to Kasumi Ishikawa 6-11， 9-11， 11-6，11-6， 11-8.


Petrissa Solja was the one having laid the base for the European team's win， beating Ito 5-11， 11-4， 8-11， 11-6， 12-10 to open the semi.


The German native scored her second point on sets by teaming up with Shan Xiaona in the doubles to win over Fukuhara and Ito， 11-6， 10-12， 7-11， 11-9， 11-7， before Ishikawa beat Shan 11-2， 13-11， 14-12 to force the fourth set.


It's not Japan's worst result in the short history of Olympic team event， with them failing to make semifinals in Beijing 2008.


Earlier on Sunday， the men's team event got to know the semifinalists as China booked a last four clash with South Korea and Japan set to pick Germany.


Sonja Muhlberger in her living room in Berlin Photo: Yin LuGT


Born on 26 October 1939 in Shanghai into a Jewish family Women's Nike Air Max 270 Sneakers Light Grey Black , Sonja Muhlberger is what she would call an "ex-Shanghailander."


To escape Nazi persecution during the Second World War (1939-45), Jews from Germany and Austria fled overseas. During that time, Japanese-occupied Shanghai was the last safe haven for many, since they didn't require visas to get there.


Muhlberger's parents, who were expecting her at the time, were among the many Jewish refugees who arrived at Shanghai's port for a chance at a new life. After the war, most people went to the US, Canada or Australia, and some returned to Europe. Only about 500 to 600 chose to return to Germany.


At her home in a quiet neighborhood in Koepenick, in the southeast of Berlin, Muhlberger showed the Global Times an album filled with pictures of her in China, and also shared her life story as a Shanghai-born Jewish refugee. It's clear from the photos of old Shanghai streets that China makes up an important part of her life.


The ex-Shanghailanders


During their occupation of Shanghai, Japanese forces made the Jewish refugees live in the poorest area of the city, which would come to be known as the "Shanghai Ghetto."


Life there was difficult, but it made her and others stronger. "I would like to say that in the 1940s, those people lived in that place peacefully and in harmony with all those who were around us," she said. "I think it's meaningful."


"Sometimes I like to cook in the Chinese way. And then when I visited Shanghai, I felt at home," she said.


In 1998, she was invited by a Chinese artist back to Shanghai to make a documentary, and was able to visit a couple more times after that.


Over the years, Muhlberger has received letters and e-mails from many "ex-Shanghailanders" and their families.


"People count their family members who were born after that," she said. "For me, I have two children and four grandchildren. You have to count how many people are on the way because we could survive."


Muhlberger and many other "ex-Shanghailanders" want to make sure that their history continues to be written today.


At the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum, which was built on the grounds of the former Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Hongkou district, stands a memorial wall of names dedicated to the more than 13,000 Jewish refugees.


Over the years, Muhlberger has conducted research into their history, written articles, and worked as a publisher and producer for articles and documentaries.


Her most recent project involved the correction of names on a list, on which the wall of names was based.


Compiled in 1944 by two young girls employed by the Japanese authorities in Shanghai, the list consisted of demographic data relating to the Hongkou refugee population. There are mistakes in the list, as well as non-Jewish people, mostly family members of the Jewish refugees.


"By correcting the names in the list, I think I gave those people their names back," she said.


The arrival of Sonja Muhlberger (right) and her family in Germany from Shanghai in 1947 Photo: Courtesy of Sonja Muhlberger


Hard road home


Over the past century, China has been home to a succession of Jews from various background, including those seeking business opportunities and those fleeing pogroms. People can find their footprints not only in Shanghai, but also other places including Harbin in Heilongjiang Province and Kaifeng in He'nan Province.


Of those who left, most sought to move to the US, Canada and Australia, where they thought they could have a better life.


On August 21, 1947, 732 Jews who fled to Shanghai returned to Germany.


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