Toward an Olympic ticket…Korean mixed doubles get off to a strong start

The 26th ITTF-ATTU Pyeongchang Asian Table Tennis Championships 2023, being held at the Pyeongchang Dome in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, kicked off the individual competition on Friday. Before the women’s team final, the round of 64 and round of 32 mixed doubles were completed. The Korean pairs of Jang Woo-jin and Jeon Jeon-hee and Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yubin breezed past the starting lineup to reach the round of 16.스포츠토토

The Korean pair of Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yubin defeated Singapore’s Tsui Clarence and Zeng Jian 3-1 (11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 15-13) in the round of 32. Lim and Shin came into the tournament having won the mixed doubles title at the WTT Contender Rio de Janeiro 2023 in Brazil in August, just prior to this event. Their gold medal dreams grew as they continued their good form. They were 2-1 up in the fourth game and faced the threat of a comeback, but maintained their focus in the final game to win.

Jang Woo-jin and Jeon Jeon-hee defeated Kazakhstan’s Gerasimenko Kirill and Lavarova Anastasia 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-9). Kazakhstan’s much-improved performance in the men’s and women’s team events made them the favorites in the mixed doubles, but it was not enough to overcome one of the favorites, Jang Woo-jin and Jeon Jeon-hee. Jang Woo-jin and Jeon Jeon-hee are one of Korea’s leading doubles pairs. They won the WTT Star Contender Goa 2023 in India in March this year.

The winner of the mixed doubles event will qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. As such, it is an event that pairs from all over the world are focusing their efforts on. Lim Jong-hoon-Shin Yubin and Jang Woo-jin-Jeon-hee are among the favorites. China is represented by Ling Gaoyuan-Wang Yidi and Liang Jingkun-Chientian, while Japan has only one pair, Tomokazu Harimoto-Hina Hayata. Mixed doubles will feature the round of 16 and quarterfinals on June 6, followed by the quarterfinals on June 7, with a day off before the final on June 9. In a two-sided draw, the two Korean pairs could find themselves facing each other across the table on Day 9.