"Complete revenge for the 3-0 loss to China" — Korean table tennis strikes again! Park Gyu-hyun and Park Ga-hyun win mixed doubles bronze... Securing a large number of World Championships berths

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Korean table tennis added medals in the individual events following its performance in the team events at the Asian Championships. The Park Gyu-hyun-Park Ga-hyun pair secured a bronze medal in mixed doubles, while seven players advanced to the round of 16 in men's and women's singles, securing berths for the 2027 World Table Tennis Championships.

The Park Gyu-hyun (Mirae Asset Securities)-Park Ga-hyun (Korean Air) pair lost 1-3 (6-11, 4-11, 11-7, 6-11) to China's Huang Yujing and Chen Yi in the mixed doubles semifinals of the 29th International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)-Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) Asian Table Tennis Championships, currently being held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

After defeating Hong Kong's Veteran Wong Chun-ting and Du Hoi-kam pair in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, the Park Gyu-hyun-Park Ga-hyun pair won the bronze medal. This is Korea's third medal at this tournament, following the silver in men's team and bronze in women's team events.

The path to the bronze medal for the Park Gyu-hyun-Park Ga-hyun pair was not easy. They defeated pairs from Turkmenistan in the round of 64, Kazakhstan in the round of 32, and Malaysia in the round of 16 in succession, but struggled against Hong Kong's Wong Chun-ting-Du Hoi-kam pair in the quarterfinals.

After losing the first game 8-11, Korea took the second game 11-5 to level the score. However, they lost the third game 6-11, putting them on the brink of elimination. They won the fourth game 11-8 to tie the match, then dominated their opponents 11-3 in the final fifth game. It was a dramatic comeback victory with a game score of 3-2.

In the semifinals, they could not overcome China's wall. After losing the first two games to the Huang Yujing-Chen Yi pair, they took the third game 11-7 but were pushed out 6-11 in the fourth game, settling for the bronze medal. However, their advancement to the semifinals secured a berth for the mixed doubles event at the 2027 World Table Tennis Championships.

The Park Gang-hyun (Mirae Asset Securities)-Lee Da-eun (Korea Racing Authority) pair, who also competed, secured a World Championships berth. They crushed Singapore's Pang Koen and Su Lin-chian pair 3-0 in the round of 16, but suffered a comeback loss 2-3 (6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11) to India's Harmit Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade pair in the quarterfinals.

In men's singles, Kang Dong-soo (Samsung Life)'s performance stood out. Kang advanced to the round of 16 by defeating China's Zhou Chihao 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 12-10) in the round of 32.

He met Zhou Chihao again in the individual event and took revenge without dropping a single game against the player who had handed him a 1-3 defeat in the team final. Previously, Kang had also led Korea to its first silver medal in seven years by consecutively defeating Japan's Shinozuka Hiroto and Harimoto Tomokazu in the men's team semifinal against Japan.

Park Gyu-hyun and Park Gang-hyun also joined the men's singles round of 16. As a result, Korea has secured at least three World Championships berths in men's singles. Kim Min-hyuk (Korea Water Resources Corporation) fought a full-game close match against Japan's Harimoto Tomokazu in the round of 32 but lost 2-3 (11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 13-11, 5-11). He will attempt to secure an additional berth in the ranking matches for positions 17th through 32nd. Lim Yu-no (Samsung Life) lost 1-3 to Taiwan's Kuo Guan-hung in the round of 64 and was eliminated.

In women's singles, four players—Lee Da-eun, Park Ga-hyun, Lee Eun-hye (Korean Air), and Lee Si-on (Hwaseong City Corporation)—advanced to the round of 16 together, securing four World Championships berths. Notably, Lee Da-eun defeated China's Shu Xinyao 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7), and Park Ga-hyun also recorded a comeback victory 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6) against Hong Kong's Du Hoi-kam.

Lee Eun-hye won 3-2 (13-11, 5-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-9) against Malaysia's Chong Li-sian in a close match that went to the final game. Lee Si-on also defeated Taiwan's Ye Yi-tian 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8). Yoo Si-u (Hwaseong City Corporation) lost to Hong Kong's Sze Tung in the round of 64 and was eliminated.

In men's and women's doubles, they failed to advance far in the main draw, but the possibility of securing World Championships berths remains.

The Kim Min-hyuk-Park Gyu-hyun pair in men's doubles lost 2-3 to China's Wen Ruibo and Yuan Liqian pair in the round of 16 and moved on to the ranking matches for positions 9th through 16th. The Kang Dong-soo-Lim Yu-no pair lost 0-3 to China's Lin Shidong and Huang Yujing pair in the round of 32.

In women's doubles, the Lee Si-on-Yoo Si-u pair also lost to India's Swastika Gosh and Yashaswini Ghorpade pair, while the Lee Da-eun-Park Ga-hyun pair lost 2-3 to Thailand's Orawan Paranan and Sutathini Sawettabut pair after a full-game close match.

In particular, the Thai pair is a strong contender that defeated the Shin Yu-bin-Joo Chan-hee pair at the recent Asian Games to win the bronze medal. The two Korean women's doubles pairs will secure World Championships berths if they each win just one match in the ranking matches for positions 9th through 16th.

Berths for the 2027 World Table Tennis Championships are at stake at this Asian Championship. The berths allocated to Asia are 27 for men's singles, 32 for women's singles, 14 pairs for men's doubles, 15 pairs for women's doubles, and 14 pairs for mixed doubles. Berths will be awarded based on main draw results and ranking match outcomes.

However, berths are allocated to the country rather than individual players. The Korea Table Tennis Association plans to hold a separate selection tournament targeting its national team players ahead of next year's World Championships, in line with the number of berths secured at this tournament.

Korea won silver in men's team, bronze in women's team, and bronze in mixed doubles at this tournament. Individual events and ranking matches to secure World Championships berths will continue until the 25th, the final day of the tournament.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original