'Shin Yubin's Fierce Effort' Women's Table Tennis Team Advances to Quarterfinals

Competing for a Spot in the Semifinals Against Germany Tomorrow

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The women's table tennis national team kicked off their first match in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team event with a victory. The team, composed of Shin Yubin (Korean Air), Jeon Jihee (POSCO Energy), and Choi Hyojoo (Samsung Life), defeated Poland, represented by Natalia Partyka, Natalia Bajor, and Li Chen, 3-0 in the round of 16 held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on the 2nd. Their quarterfinal opponent is Germany, who swept Australia 3-0. They will face off tomorrow (the 3rd) at 10 a.m. for a spot in the semifinals. The national team leads the overall head-to-head record 6 wins to 2 losses. However, in the last five years, both sides have split their matches evenly with one win each.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In the first doubles match, Shin Yubin and Choi Hyojoo started smoothly by easily taking the first two sets. However, from the third set, they got caught up in Partyka's experienced game management and lost two consecutive sets. Shin Yubin and Choi Hyojoo regained their focus in the fifth set and turned the momentum around. Especially at 12-11, Shin Yubin delivered a powerful drive to seal the long match (3-2, 11-6 12-10 11-13 4-11 13-11). The team continued their momentum in the following two matches. Jeon Jihee defeated Li Chen 3-0 (11-4 11-8 11-3) in about 25 minutes, and Shin Yubin also secured a 3-2 (11-4 11-7 9-11 8-11 11-5) victory against Bajor.