Table tennis prodigy stuns nation

Oh Jun-sung, 11, plays table tennis in the men’s singles at the 71st National Men and Women’s Table Tennis Championships in Daegu, Monday. He became the first elementary school player to advance to the round of 32. / Yonhap

Son of Olympic medalist follows in father’s footstep

By Baek Byung-yeul

It is not rare to see a son cut a fine figure in the same sport as his father. It may be a bit early to tell, but rain may be coming for the table tennis drought in Korea, a previous powerhouse in the sport.

Over Christmas, an 11-year-old table tennis player Oh Jun-sung had a tremendous run in the men’s singles at the 71st National Men and Women’s Table Tennis Championships in Daegu, advancing to the round of 32.

The elementary school player advanced to the second round after defeating high school player Song Seok-hyeon, Dec. 23, and then defeated Kang Ji-hoon 3-1, Dec. 24. On Monday, Oh lost to 20-year-old Park Jung-woo 3-0 in the third round. After losing the first and second sets, Oh led the score 8-5, but suffered a defeat after allowing six consecutive points to Park.

Despite his lost, Oh has become the talk of the town as he is the first elementary school player to advance to the third round in the championships history.

Oh also received a lot of attention as he is the second son of retired table tennis player Oh Sang-eun. His 40-year-old father was a big name in Korean table tennis until he retired from the sport last year.

Starting from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Oh made four Olympic appearances and won a bronze in the men’s team event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and silver in the same event in the 2012 London Games. He also holds a record of most wins in the men’s singles at the Korea Open table tennis tourney with six wins.

The father had a chance to play together with his son before he retired last year. Though he was suffering a shoulder injury, Oh made his last National Men and Women’s Table Tennis Championships appearance, pairing with his son in the men’s doubles.

The father told reporters he encouraged his second son to play table tennis after he found out he did not like to read.

“Jun-sung was not like my first son who liked reading books. So I recommended him to learn table tennis,” Oh said.

The son began pursuing a career as a table tennis player when he was a first grader. With his effort and his father’s coaching, Oh has been the best player among all table tennis prospects in his class.

After being eliminated from the third round, Oh said he “feels great as he could achieve his goal.” Oh said he set a goal to advance to the third round this year because he was knocked out in the first round last year.

“After experiencing the championship this year, now I feel I can be better next year. I have set my goal to advance to the fifth round next year.”