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Compiled from news reports
Someone called Oh Sang-eun, a top-20-ranked South Korean table tennis player in the world, an “old guy.” However, Oh, 35, and Joo Sae-hyuk and Ryu Seung-min won the silver medal in men's team table tennis at the London Olympics, Wednesday.
This was the only table tennis medal for South Korea in London.
At the ExCeL Arena, they fell to the mighty Chinese team 3-0 in a lopsided final. They managed to win only two sets against the Chinese trio of Zhang Jike, Wang Hao and Ma Long, all top-10 players in the world. China has swept up all four table tennis gold medals for the second straight Olympics.
The South Korean men improved upon the bronze medal they won in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Korean trio, who are all in their 30s, are veterans among South Korean male table tennis players. They are all top-20-ranked players in the world, with Joo at No. 10.
After the team accomplished its goal of advancing to the final, Ryu and Joo made public the secrets he had kept previously.
Ryu, 30, said last December, he had injuries not only to ligaments of his right shoulder but also in left knee. At that time, doctors said Ryu had to undergo surgery. However, he continued rehabilitation treatment instead and recovered from his injuries.
Joo, 32, said he received treatment for phlegmon cellulitis. “But I thought that something went wrong since there was few signs of recovery. The initial diagnosis turned out to be wrong. Later, my illness was diagnosed as Behcet’s Disease.
“Behcet’s Disease is a chronic disease. Therefore, I had to play, tolerating the pain,” Joo said.
Ryu, the gold medalist in the men’s individual event at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said he "really wanted to beat China, for once" in his last Olympics. Ryu walks away with the singles gold from 2004 and the team silver this year and the team bronze from 2008.
"I have no regrets; everyone on the team tried so hard and we really earned this silver," Ryu said. "Now I want to help younger players develop so they can win gold medals in future Olympics."
Junior players Kim Min-seok and Seo Hyeon-deok applauded the accomplishment the seniors made at the London Olympics. Kim and Seo, who came to London as “training partners” for them said they respected the experiences the team had.
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