'Hari Moto Turned Jang Woo-jin' Korean table tennis beat Japan to secure team competition
Oct 08, 2024
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South Korea's men's table tennis team, led by coach Hwang Sung-hoon, secured a bronze medal by beating tough opponent Japan 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Asian Table Tennis Championships at Astana Birein Arena in Kazakhstan on the afternoon of the 8th.
Han Il-jeon, Jang Woo-jin, Ahn Jae-hyun (Korea Exchange), and Oh Jun-sung (Mirae Asset Securities), who have to win, are confident. As he missed the medal at the Paris Olympics, it was a match to win with the pride of Korean table tennis.
In the first singles, Ahn Jae-hyun was defeated 2-3 (6-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-7, 5-11) by Tomokazu Harimoto after a close game of the full game. Ahn Jae-hyun, who was dominant with 5 wins and 2 losses in his career, played a tight game, but Harimoto led in the final concentration.
In the second singles, Jang Woo-jin returned the game to square one (11-9, 11-3, 5-11, 11-6). He also showed an overwhelming performance this time against Dogami, who easily beat him 4-0 in the men's singles round of 16 at the Paris Olympics. The 3rd singles 'Oh Sang-eun II' Oh Jun-sung, 18, won against Hiroto Shinozuka 'Japanese Shinsung' 3-2 (11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 9-11, 11-8) after a one-and-a-one match. Thanks to the youngest's struggle, South Korea succeeded in turning the tables with a matchscore 2-1.
The last four singles, an ace match between Korea and Japan, took place. Jang Woo-jin's specialty, forehand spin, was fierce one after another. They lost one game 8-11, but beat the two-game deuce war to win 12-10, and grabbed three games 11-7. Although it fell to 3-11 in four games, it won 11-9 in five games, completing a 3-2 game score and a 3-1 match score.
South Korea will face China, the strongest team, in the semifinals on the 10th.
sky4us@sportschosun.com
