'World No. 1 and a full-game thriller' Kim Na-young shone, but women's table tennis could not overcome China's Great Wall. 'Eliminated in the 2026 ITTF World Championships quarterfinals'

*This content was translated by AI.

The Korean women's table tennis team failed to overcome the overwhelming strength of 'the world's strongest' China in the quarterfinals.

On the 7th (Korean time), Korea suffered a complete 0-3 defeat against China in the women's team quarterfinals of the '2026 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Championships' held at the OVO Arena Wembley in London, UK.

Having already lost 0-3 to China in the final match of the seeding allocation league, Korea once again felt the high wall of the Great China in this matchup.

Shin Yu-bin (Korean Air), who had rested due to a waist injury in the previous match against China, returned to take the lead but could not fully display her skills against world No. 2 Wang Manyu, falling 0-3 (1-11, 4-11, 4-11).

Next, Kim Na-young (POSCO International), who took the second singles spot, engaged in a thrilling full-game battle against world No. 1 Sun Yingsha. After losing the first game, she won the second and third games in succession, appearing to catch a big fish, but could not withstand Sun Yingsha's late surge and lost 2-3 (7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 9-11) in a heartbreaking comeback defeat.

In the third singles match, with the team on the brink of elimination, Park Ga-hyun (Korean Air) faced world No. 8 Wang Yidi. Although she fought hard, winning the third game in a tense deuce battle, she ultimately fell 1-3 (5-11, 3-11, 12-10, 2-11), confirming the team's final elimination.

After the match, team coach Seok Eun-mi said, "There are times when our shortcomings actually present opportunities to challenge," and added, "Kim Na-young did not back down today, and the aggressive direction we prepared was somewhat realized."

She continued, "From now on, women's table tennis must become faster and more explosive. Although this tournament left us with many tasks, we also confirmed our direction. We will continue with more intense training toward the Asian Games and the Olympics."

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*This content was translated by AI.