Lim Jong-hoon, Shin Yubin finish with mixed doubles bronze at Pyeongchang Asian Table Tennis Championships

Korea Table Tennis’ strategy event for the Hangzhou Asian Games, mixed doubles, failed to cross the ‘Great Wall of China’.

Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange) and Shin Yubin (Korean Air) lost 0-3 (7-11 9-11 2-11) to China’s Liang Jinkun and Chen Tianyi in the mixed doubles semifinals at the Pyeongchang Asian Table Tennis Championships Pyeongchang 2023 at the Pyeongchang Dome in Gangwon Province on Sunday.

As a result, Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yubin finished with a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the tournament. It was a disappointment for the pair as the winner of the mixed doubles event would have qualified for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

After winning gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the duo will be back in the hunt again at the Olympic Qualifiers in March and April next year.

“We didn’t feel any pressure for the Olympic tickets. We just tried to focus on the game because we had to beat China anyway,” said Lim.

On the day, the duo did not show their usual form. Lim Jong-hoon lost the decisiveness that had made him so dominant in the men’s team event, and Shin Yubin’s backhand went higher than usual. As a result, he lost the first three sets after losing control of the match, especially the second set, which was close.

Shin Yubin said, “It was my first time playing on this surface, so I didn’t adapt to the conditions. It’s a shame that we couldn’t create a good match,” said Shin. Lim Jong-hoon also said, “Against Chinese players, we often lose the first game and get dragged down. We should have pushed hard from the beginning, but we couldn’t do that.”

The mixed doubles final was a battle for China’s home turf between Liang Jinkun and Chen Tianyi and Ling Gaoyuan and Wang Yidi. China had swept the men’s and women’s team gold medals earlier in the day.

South Korean athletes will continue to challenge for medals in the men’s and women’s singles and men’s and women’s doubles. Earlier in the day, the men’s doubles pairs of Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon and Ahn Jae-hyun and Park Kang-hyun (Korea Exchange) won straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. In the women’s doubles, Shin Yubin-Jeon Hee reached the quarterfinals. 카지노