adminKorean women’s table tennis ace Shin Yu-bin (19th, 26th) won the first game of the World Table Tennis Championships, completely shaking off the pain of withdrawing from injury two years ago. Veteran Seo Hyo-won (36th, 45th), who achieved the best results in the national team singles at the last tournament, also got off to a fresh start with a come-from-behind victory in the first match, and Lee Shion won as Korea’s first runner-up in the World Championships.
Shin Yu-bin is mother-in-law (63rd, Canada) in the first round (round of 128) of the women’s singles finals of the 2023 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Table Tennis Championships held at the Durban International Convention Center (DICC) in Durban, South Africa on the 20th (local time). 4-1 (11-5 10-12 11-9 13-11 11-2) and advanced to the second round.
Yubin Shin qualified for her first world championships two years ago in Houston, USA, but withdrew during the competition due to a stress fracture in her wrist. She has since gone through two surgeries, a lengthy rehab. Shin Yu-bin, who has overcome her difficulties, is aiming for her medal by competing in all three events, women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
On this day, Shin Yu-bin greatly overpowered Chinese player Zhang Mo with a score of 11-5 in one game. She trailed 1-2 early in the game, but Shin Yu-bin scored 5 points in a row to take a 6-2 lead. She gave up 3 points and she was trailing by 1 point, but then she gave up another 5 points in a row to win her first game.
Game 2 was a close match. In 4-4, when Shin Yu-bin ran away with 3 points, mother-in-law caught up with 3 points. After exchanging 1 point, mother-in-law scored 2 consecutive points and entered the game point, and Shin Yu-bin caught up with 2 points and made a deuce. However, due to her lack of support, she eventually gave up the game.
In the third game, they led 7-3, then conceded 4 points in a row to make it 7-7, but after running away again and running 2 points, they did not allow a lead. The 4th game was played in the form that if Shin Yu-bin leads, the mother-in-law catches up. The chase was relentless, but after two deuces, Shin Yu-bin eventually took the game.
With only one game left to win, the opponent self-destructed. Shin Yu-bin, who scored 3 points first, gave up 1 point and then scored 6 consecutive points, virtually confirming her victory. Mother-in-law was often out because she could not properly receive Shin Yu-bin’s attacks. Shin Yu-bin allowed 1 run with a net, but she added 2 points again and won without difficulty.
Shin Yu-bin said in an interview after the game, “She had a tough match at the Houston World Championships last year because of her injury, but this time she is happy to be able to win her first game.” Regarding the situation in which she was chased after having a big lead in the 4th set, she said, “I thought I had to catch that set because it was a very important set, and she thought it was important because a better strategy would come out if she discussed it with the coach, so I spent time.” she said.
Shin Yu-bin will play her first mixed doubles match this afternoon with Lim Jong-hun and Nigeria’s Opi Ong Edem-Bode Abi Ordan Joe. Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon are showing good performances, winning a silver medal at the WTT Star Contender Mixed Doubles held in Bangkok, Thailand last month.
Shin Yu-bin said, “It’s an honor to be able to play mixed doubles at the World Championships.”
Seo Hyo-won, a veteran of the national team, also got off to a good start by winning the first match of the women’s singles. Seo Hyo-won won 4-2 (11-3 6-11 8-11 11-8 11-2 11-9) in the first round of women’s singles against Takahashi Bruna (37th, Brazil) that day.
She reached the quarterfinals in the women’s singles at the last tournament, and Seo Hyo-won, who set the record for the Korean national team’s men’s and women’s singles, seemed to win easily, bringing one game to 11-3 that day. However, she was put in a crisis by giving away two or three games in a row with a large score difference.
But as she straightened her battle lines, she started to reverse herself again. In 4 games she was 0-2, she fought back with 5 points in a row, after which she never gave up a lead. She led the game by scoring 6 consecutive points from the start of 5 games, and after conceding 1 run, she reached the game point with 4 consecutive points, and succeeded in reversing without any change. In the 6th game, it was 9-9, and Seo Hyo-won won with 2 points.
Seo Hyo-won said, “My opponent is a difficult player with a high ranking, but I think I won because I was confident because I had experience winning before.” Seo Hyo-won won Takahashi Bruna in both 2018 and 2019.
Regarding the reversal in the 2nd and 3rd games, he said, “The opponent is a strong player on the back side, but I seem to have been habitually receiving it with the back and getting counterattacks.” It seems that the flow came while defending and then counterattacking.”
Seo Hyo-won, who was in the quarterfinals of the last tournament, also set the goal of this tournament to the quarterfinals. He said, “My goal is to do my best in each game and reach the quarterfinals,” and “I will work hard to achieve my goal.”
Earlier, Lee Si-on (27th, 49th) won the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships as Korea’s first runner. In the first round of the women’s singles (round of 128), Lee Sion defeated Gieni Xiao (46th, Portugal) 4-0 (11-9 17-15 11-9 11-5).
Lee Shion met Chinese player Jieni Xiao and had a close match in the early part of the match, but ran away in the second half. Lee Sion, who took the first game to 11-9, also played the second game to 6-3. However, they struggled against the opponent’s strong attack and turned it over 6-8.
Afterwards, the opponent’s attack went over the table and the net came out, making the score 8-8, and the fight began by one point. The game point was reached 10-9 first, but after that, a reversal and a reversal followed, leading to a deuce close to 15-15. Ishion, who reliably defended against the opponent’s strong attack, reached the game point after a long rally as the opponent’s attack was out.
In the 3rd game, in a situation where they were drawn 6-8, they reached the game point first with 4 consecutive points, and after giving up 1 point, they scored and brought the game. In the 4th game, they went ahead early and won without any surprises.
After the game, Lee Shion said, “It was burdensome because it was the first time, but I feel very happy to be able to bring it to victory.”
Lee Shion’s next opponent is the winner of the match between Chen Xintong (5th place, China) and Sara De Nuit (71st place, Luxembourg). There is a high possibility of a head-to-head matchup with Chen Xintong, who is ranked 5th in the world rankings. It was not an easy opponent, but Lee Shion was determined to do well. He said, “There is a high possibility of playing with a good player in China, but the goal is to show good performance and win.”
Meanwhile, Ahn Jae-hyeon (24th, 40th) in the men’s singles suffered a loss in the first round of two world championships in a row. Ahn Jae-hyun lost to Lubomir Piche (92nd, Slovakia) 1-4 (12-10 10-12 8-11 9-11 9-11) in the men’s singles first round (round of 128) that day. It is the second consecutive elimination in the first round of the World Championships after being eliminated in the first round by 3-4 to American ace Kanak Zaha at the 2021 Houston Championships in the United States.
Ahn Jae-hyun was drawn 1-5 in his first game, but made a 7-7 tie by inducing the opponent to make mistakes by adjusting the strength and weakness. Ahn Jae-hyun, who was fighting by one point, reached the game point first in a 10-10 deuce situation, and took one game with the opponent’s attack caught in the net during the rally.
However, he lost four games and came from behind. Ahn Jae-Hyun, who was behind by 1-4 in 2 games, caught up one point at a time, tied the score at 7-7, and finally succeeded in reversing 10-9. However, it became a deuce due to a defense failure, and both attacks in the last minute were out.
The second half of the 3rd and 4th games was also disappointing. Ahn Jae-hyun, who was leading 8-7, was turned 8-9 due to a fault in the serve situation, and gave up the game as it was due to net and defense failures. In the 9-10 situation, which gave 4 game points, the attack was out.토토사이트
Ahn Jae-hyun, who was driven into a pinch, refined the front line and took a 6-3 lead in the first five games, but allowed the chase and turned 7-9. The opponent’s attack was caught in the net, and a strong attack hit the opponent’s corner and bounced, making it 9-9, but again gave 2 points and eventually lost.
Ahn Jae-hyun said, “Recently, my performance has not been very good. I tried to do well, but I also suffered from a back injury, so I couldn’t prepare, so I think I lost because I was not confident in my play.” “Because I don’t have confidence, the opponent seems to be aiming for that. So it seems difficult to pass with a similar score,” he added.