S. Korea falls to China in women's table tennis, heads to bronze medal match
Jeon Ji-hee, left, and Shin Yu-bin of South Korea play against Chen Meng and Wang Manyu of China during their doubles match in the semifinals of the women's table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics at South Paris Arena in the French capital, Aug. 8. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
South Korea lost to China in the semifinals of the women's table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, going down without much of a fight against the world No. 1 unit.
Shin Yu-bin, Jeon Ji-hee and Lee Eun-hye went down 3-0 against Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu after one doubles and two singles matches at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris.
South Korea will now try to salvage a bronze medal in the third-place contest Saturday against Germany. The European team lost to Japan 3-1 in Thursday's other semifinal match. Germany defeated South Korea 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Olympics, though only Shan Xiaona is back for Germany. Shin and Jeon both played in Tokyo.
Sun, Chen and Wang are 1-2-3 in the women's singles world rankings, and they were too much for the South Koreans to handle.
In the opening doubles match, Shin and Jeon lost to Chen and Wang 3-1 (11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9). After dropping the first two games, the South Koreans built a 7-2 lead in the third game, only to be caught at 9-9. But Shin and Jeon grabbed the final two points to make it a 2-1 match.
Jeon Ji-hee, left, and Shin Yu-bin of South Korea reacts to a play against Wang Manyu of China during their singles match in the semifinals of the women's table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics at South Paris Arena in the French capital, Aug. 8. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
They rallied from an 8-2 deficit to draw even at 9-9 in the fourth game, but then conceded the next two points to allow the Chinese duo to close out the match.
In the next singles match, Sun humbled Lee Eun-hye in a 3-0 (11-5, 11-1, 11-3) victory, with the South Korean wearing an exasperated look.
Wang then beat Jeon 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-3) to send South Korea to the bronze medal match. Wang jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the third game in a blink and closed out the match without breaking a sweat.
The team events in table tennis were held for the first time in 2008, and China has won every men's and women's team gold medal so far.
South Korea has been shut out since picking up the bronze medal in 2008. Now that this year's team is a win away from ending that drought, all three South Korean players said they will try to finish their Olympics on a high note.
"This was a disappointing result but rather than dwell on that, we will try to get ready for the next match," said Shin, who won the mixed doubles bronze medal here on July 30. "We want to finish our last match with a medal."
Shin said she wasn't nervous about facing China but she and Jeon were simply outplayed.
"They were so well prepared, and we were a step slow," Shin said.
Jeon vowed to be better in the bronze medal match, saying, "We'll try to get off on the right foot and execute our game plan."
Lee chimed in: "We'll come together as a team and give everything we have to try to win the medal." (Yonhap)