Koreas agree to form unified table tennis teams at ITTF Swedish, Austrian Open

South and North Korea have agreed to send unified teams to international table tennis competitions next month, Seoul's table tennis governing body said Monday.

The Korea Table Tennis Association (KTTA) said the two Koreas reached an agreement to send unified teams to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Swedish Open and Austrian Open.

The Koreas fielded a unified team in the women's team event at the World Team Tennis Championships in Halmstad, Sweden, in May, and put together four joint doubles teams at the Korea Open in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, in July.

For the Swedish Open, which will be held from Monday to Sunday in Stockholm, Korea will be represented by two doubles teams each in the men's and women's sides.

Jang Woo-jin (South) and Ham Yu-song (North), and Lim Jong-hoon (South) and An Ji-song (North) will team up in the men's doubles. Suh Hyo-won (South) and Kim Song-i (North), and Choi Hyo-joo (South) and Cha Hyo-sim (North) will compete together in the women's doubles.

At the Austrian Open Nov. 6 to 11 in Linz, Austria, Lim and An, Suh and Kim will again represent Korea, while Jang will team up with Cha in the mixed doubles. Jang and Cha combined for a gold medal in the mixed doubles at the Korea Open.

According to the KTTA, the Jang-Cha pairing will also compete in the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Incheon in December.

"As the Koreas have formed unified teams at the upcoming ITTF events following the World Team Table Tennis Championships and the Korea Open, it will be a big help to facilitate inter-Korean sports exchanges," a KTTA official said.(Yonhap)