*This content was translated by AI.
Korean table tennis prodigy Lee Seung-soo (15, Daejeon Dongsan Middle School) secured a valuable gold medal in the individual event at the 30th Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships.
Lee Seung-soo, the ace of the men's cadet (U-15) national team, defeated Japan's Ono Shoma 4-2 (7-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-13, 11-6, 11-3) in the U-15 men's singles final held in Bangkok, Thailand, on the afternoon of the 3rd to claim the championship.
This is the only medal won by the Korean team in the individual events at this tournament and the sole gold medal across all events when including team competitions. The final opponent, Ono, had advanced after defeating another Korean prospect, Ma Young-min (Jeonggok Middle School), 3-0 in the earlier quarterfinals.
Lee Seung-soo also faced a difficult match. He started cautiously by losing the first game 7-11. He then turned the momentum around by winning the next two games consecutively. Although he lost the fourth game in a tense deuce battle 11-13, restoring balance, he dominated the fifth and sixth games to complete a 4-2 victory (7-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-13, 11-6, 11-3).
It was a drama that not only avenged the disappointment of the Korean national team's runner-up finish in the team event but also sought revenge for a teammate's defeat. The individual events at this tournament were not easy for Korea. In the women's junior (U-19) singles, Heo Ye-rim (Hwaseong City Corporation) fought hard to become the only Korean player to reach the quarterfinals.
However, she lost 0-4 to Sutthung (Hong Kong). In men's juniors, Kwon Hyuk (Daejeon Dongsan High School) was the sole survivor in the round of 16 but could not overcome China's Zhou Guan-hong. In women's cadet (U-15) singles, Lee Hye-rin (Hosudon Girls' Middle School) reached the quarterfinals but narrowly lost 2-3 to Japanese prospect Yui Sakuma. Both men's and women's junior individual doubles and mixed doubles were eliminated in the round of 16 or earlier.
This is why Lee Seung-soo's hard-fought battle shone so brightly. Having advanced through Group 1 with a perfect record, Lee defeated Philippines' Cruz Kevin 3-0 in the round of 32 and then turned back China's Min Ming 3-0 in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, he beat Japan's Okada Sora 3-1, and in the semifinals, he engaged in a full-game battle with Taiwan's Chen Kai-cheng before securing a 4-3 victory to reach the final.
The result was a clear demonstration of the presence of Korea's next-generation men's table tennis ace. Lee Seung-soo has continued to challenge older age groups on domestic soil and has consistently knocked on the door of international stages, primarily through the WTT Youth Series. Those efforts led to this gold medal. In particular, although he narrowly settled for a silver medal in the team final at this tournament, he grew stronger as the matches progressed.
As a result, the Korean youth national team won a total of four medals at this tournament: gold in U-15 men's singles, silver in men's team event, bronze in U-19 men's team event, and bronze in U-15 women's team event.
The Korean national team for this tournament was dispatched as part of a national athlete development project financially supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sport & Olympic Foundation (KSPO). The young Korean players felt the high wall of international competition firsthand.
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*This content was translated by AI.
