I haven’t given up my medal yet.
The world No. 3 Korean national team, consisting of world No. 8 Shin Yu-bin, No. 14 Jeon Ji-hee (Korean Air), and No. 42 Lee Eun-hye (Mirae Asset Securities), reached the quarterfinals on the 6th (Korea time) by beating No. 10 Brazil (20th) Takahashi, No. 90 Julia Takahashi, No. 181st) in the round of 16 table tennis women’s doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris, France.
It was a perfect victory. Korea set up Shin Yu-bin and Jeon Ji-hee in the doubles group of the first set. Brazil then deployed Alessandr and Julia. Alessandr and Julia were no match for Shin Yu-bin and Jeon Ji-hee. The two players did not yield a single set to Brazil, and won the first game 3-0.
In the second set, Eun-hye Lee and Bruna faced off in a singles match. Eun-hye struggled against Bruna. After losing the first set to Bruna, she grabbed the second and third sets. However, in the end, Bruna lost the fourth set, leading to the fifth set. In the beginning of the fifth set, Bruna gained strength and took a 6-2 lead. Shaken by Bruna’s offensive, Eun-hye lost in the fifth set, 4-11, losing two games.
With the game score tied 1-1, Jeon Ji-hee faced Julia in a singles match. Jeon made a good start by winning from the first set in the first three games. She then won both the second and third sets, giving Korea a 2-1 lead in the game score. 메이저사이트
In the fourth set, Lee Eun-he joined the team again. Her opponent was Alessandr who had thrombosis and cut his right arm, but after a good performance at the Paralympics, she locked down until the Paris Olympics. However, Lee recovered from her slump in the previous two games by winning the first, second, and third sets. Eventually, Korea advanced to the quarterfinals by winning the game score 3-1.
Korea will now face Sweden in the quarterfinals. At the same time, Sweden had an uphill victory over Hong Kong 3-2 in the round of 16. Sweden ranks 15th in the world, and if Korea wins in the quarterfinals, it is highly likely to face “table tennis power” China in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, as the national table tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals, Shin naturally became able to challenge for another medal. Shin paired up with Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange) to win a bronze medal at the mixed doubles bronze match at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The bronze medal they won was Korea’s first medal in table tennis in 12 years.
Shin and Im Jong-hoon defeated Hong Kong’s Wong Chun-ting and Du Hoichem Group, which is ranked fourth in the world, 4-0. Im Jong-hoon, who was about to join the military as a managing director right after the Olympics, received a bronze medal and enjoyed the joy of hugging Shin.
Shin then forgot about the joy of bronze and competed in women’s singles. However, she lost to Japan’s Hina Hayata 2-4 in the bronze medal match on the 3rd.
Early in the game, Hayata strongly pushed Shin. However, Shin displayed tension with Hayata by calmly unfolding the game. Gradually, he pressured Hanata. After turning the tables at the six-point range for the first time, he won in successive long rallies to begin to widen the gap to 8-6. He also stepped on the 10-point range first. Shin, who scored the game point of 10 points first, succeeded in gaining the upper hand by winning the first set through an opponent’s receiving mistake.
At the beginning of the second set, Shin also showed strong performance. Shaking Hayata as a sub, he induced unstable reception and led by two points first. He continued to attack Hayata strongly, leading the game 4-1. However, as he lost points in succession, he turned the game upside down to 5-6. He did not falter. He calmly made it 9-9, and displayed his tenacity to bring game points at 10-10 deuce. Shin’s attack accelerated, but he lost the second set despite being a bit long.
Even though the score was tied, Shin gained confidence. In the third set, Shin remained in the same position with Hayata, and remained in the same position until five points, and started to relax 7-5 taking advantage of Hanata’s offense. As Shin reached the 10-point range first again this time, Hanata took advantage of the strategy time, which was effective. Shin allowed three points even though he reached the 10-point range first, reversing the game’s score.
Since then, Shin has missed an important fourth set. Shin, who was following well, used his forehand and backhand at 5-7 situations to block Hanata’s aggression, but was disappointed to lose points. As Shin failed to catch Hanata’s attack at the rally that followed, she widened the gap to 5-9 to push herself to the brink.
In the fifth set, Shin set the tone early on. However, Hanata continued to chase after him, and deuce fighting broke out again, but this time he overcame the crisis well. Shin caught up with one game, but he faltered in the sixth set, and lost as he handed over the victory 2-7 early.
Shin Yu-bin, who unfortunately missed the bronze medal in the individual event, will try to win a medal again with her strong sisters.
