The South Korean table tennis team has vowed to go out with a bang at the PyeongChang 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships – Butterfly.

The team held a media day on Monday at the Pyeongchang Dome Stadium in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea, where the tournament will be held. Jang Woo-jin (28-Mirae Asset Securities), Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange), Ahn Jae-hyun (Korea Exchange), Oh Jun-sung (Mirae Asset Securities), Park Kang-hyun (Korea Water Resources Corporation-Men’s), and Shin Yoo-bin (19-Korean Air) are the “Korean Men’s Table Tennis Aces”, Jeon Jeon-hee (Mirae Asset Securities), Lee Eun-hye (Korean Air), Yang Ha-eun (POSCO International), and Seo Hyo-won (Korea Horse Society – Women’s Division) were among the 10 athletes competing in the event. The training was initially planned as a joint training with China, but the Chinese were unable to attend the training due to their schedules, so the athletes trained among themselves.

More than 500 officials and athletes from 35 Asian countries will compete in seven events, including men’s and women’s singles, mixed doubles, and men’s and women’s team events, from March 3-10 next month. The winners of the men’s and women’s team and mixed doubles events will qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The top 10 finishers in the team competition will qualify for the 2024 World Championships in Busan.

While Olympic berths are on the line, the event is more important than ever as a warm-up for the Hangzhou Asian Games in September. The entire Korean team will be competing at the Asian Games. Like Korea, other countries are also sending their best. China will be represented by the world’s top 10 players in both men’s and women’s singles, including world No. 1s Fan Zhendong and Sun Yingxia. Japan will also be represented by top-ranked players including Tomokazu Harimoto, the world No. 4 in men’s singles, and Hina Hayata, the world No. 7 in women’s singles. Taiwan’s top-ranked Lin Yun-ju (No. 9 in men’s singles) is also on the roster.

With the more important goal being an Asian Games medal, the Korean team will be looking to take advantage of the home event to get a head start on their medal contenders. South Korea’s main focus will be doubles. Korea has the world’s No. 1 men’s doubles (Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon) and women’s doubles (Shin Yoo-bin and Jeon Jeon-hee) pairs. Lim and Shin are ranked third in the world in mixed doubles. They will be looking to win gold in both the individual and team events. 메이저놀이터

“We’ve been playing together for a long time, so we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” said Shin Yubin and Jeon Jeon-hee, the defending women’s doubles champions. We are determined to keep showing what we have rather than thinking too much.”