"Junior World Championship for the first time ever!" Yoo Hae-rin X Park Ga-hyeon X Choi Na-hyeon 'Second generation of table tennis' wrote history
Nov 25, 2024
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The women's table tennis U-19 national team beat difficult opponent Taiwan 3-1 in the women's team final of the 2024 World Youth Championship U019 in Helsingborg, Sweden, on the 25th (Korea time). He made history of winning the Junior World Championship for the first time.
South Korea slowed down as ace Yoo Young-rin (Hwaseong City Corporation), who played a strong role in the semifinal against China, lost to Yewittian in one match, but Park Ga-hyun (Korean Air), who has recently continued to grow in storm, won the match against Cheng Fu-shuan in a close game in the second match. In the third match, Choi Na-hyun (Hosu-don Girls' High School) beat Chen Qi Si-wan, and Park Ga-hyun completed the winning score with a 3-1 complete victory in the ace match against Yewitian.
In this year's tournament, South Korea returned to the quarterfinals in Hong Kong and the semifinals in the quarterfinals 'impregnable'. Until the final against Taiwan, the main players alternately played an active role. Bench member Kim Tae-min (Hosu-don Girls' High School) also supported him with confidence.
This is the first time for the Korean junior team to win the world championship team event. Since the title was changed to the 2021 World Youth Championship, as well as including the 2003-2020 World Junior Championship, there has been no team gold medal. The runner-up, which was recorded five times by the men's team (2004, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016), was the highest ever for the junior team. The women's team once finished runner-up after losing to China in the 2015 final.
What is noteworthy is that all three main players who won their first historical championship are 'table tennis second generation'. Yoo Hae-rin is the daughter of Yoo Nam-gyu, director of the Korea Exchange. Park Ga-hyun is the daughter of Hannam University coach Park Kyung-soo, and Choi Na-hyun is the daughter of Daejeon Dongsan Middle School coach Choi Joo-sung. Excellent table tennis girls, who inherited superior genes from their parents, made history.
Following the team event, individual competitions such as singles, doubles and mixed doubles began. Park Ga-hyun and Yoo Young-rin advanced to the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles, which they played in the round of 16 on the 24th. Yoo Hae-rin worked with Kim Ga-on (Duhogo) to beat Nicholas Loom (Australia) and Anna Halsey (Wales) by 3-2. Park Ga-hyun also advanced to the quarterfinals with Oh Jun-sung (Mirae Asset Securities) by turning Taiwan's Qu Guanhong-Yewitian group 3 to 2. Park Ga-hyun and Yoo Hae-rin will also challenge for multi-medal in women's doubles. Korea's best record in individual competitions at the World Junior Championships was the gold medal in men's singles by Jang Woo-jin (Se-ah) in 2007.
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