South Korean men’s table tennis’ strongest doubles pairing, Jang Woo-jin (Mirae Asset Securities) and Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange), have created upset drama at the Durban 2023 World Championships. After winning the silver medal in Houston in 2021, Korea’s best-ever men’s doubles result, the pair will be aiming for gold.
Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon came from behind to defeat Can Akouzou and Emmanuel Leveson (FRA) 3-2 (9-11 5-11 11-8 11-9 12-10) 토토사이트 in the men’s singles round of 32 at the International Convention Center in Durban, South Africa, on Wednesday (Feb. 22). After dropping sets one and two, the pair rallied to take sets three through five to punch their ticket to the Round of 32.
Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon, who also reached the round of 32, dropped both the first and second sets due to a lack of concentration. In the first set, they rallied from 4-4 to take an 8-4 lead, but conceded an 8-9 lead and dropped two consecutive points after making it 9-9 to lose the set. With the momentum slipping away, he dropped the second set and looked set for elimination.
However, they bounced back by scoring three points in a row at the end of the third set, which was tied at 8-8, and in the fourth set, they conceded four straight points at the start of the match, but scored two points at 9-9 to level the match. After regaining momentum in the final set, Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon tied the match at 10-10 with a 9-5 run and conceded a deuce, but they remained steadfast and won the match with two net errors.
After the match, Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon spoke to the Joint Take Foundation and said, “It was a very difficult opponent, but we bonded as we played a difficult match,” and “Coach Joo Se-hyuk’s advice to us after the second set that we should take the third set and the opponent would be in a hurry was right. We will prepare more thoroughly for the next match.”
Jeon Jeon-hee (Mirae Asset Securities) and Shin Yubin (Korean Air) also won their round of 32 women’s doubles match against Mateja Jeger-Ivana Malovac (Croatia) 3-0 (11-6 11-6 11-8). At the last edition in Houston, Shin’s wrist injury worsened and she finished the tournament without playing a single match, but she will be looking to make a run at a medal this time around.
“I thought we would have a tough time from the first game because it was our first time meeting each other, but (Shin) was very supportive, so I played with a lot of confidence,” Jeon said. “I knew that not every match would be easy, so I prepared well,” said Shin Yubin.
Elsewhere in the day’s singles action, the team’s ‘eldest brother’ Lee Sang-soo (Samsung Life Insurance) and ‘eldest sister’ Seo Hyo-won (Korea Horse Racing Association) also reached the round of 64 in the men’s and women’s singles respectively, defeating Sharat Kamal Achanta (India) and Solomiya Vratyko (Ukraine) 4-0 (11-4 13-11 11-8 12-10) and 4-1 (11-9 11-4 11-5 3-11 11-7), respectively.
