Korea Wins Asian Games Table Tennis Doubles Gold Medal for First Time in 21 Years
Shin Yubin: "I Was Called by an Official... It Has No Special Meaning"
The South Korean women's table tennis doubles team, Jeon Jin-hee (31) and Shin Yu-bin (19), won the North-South match and claimed the Asian Games gold medal for the first time in 21 years. After the match, Jeon Jin-hee and Shin Yu-bin asked the North Korean players to take a group photo together during the award ceremony. North Korean players Cha Su-young and Park Su-kyung had stern expressions but agreed to the request.
The Jeon Jin-hee-Shin Yu-bin pair defeated North Korea's Cha Su-young and Park Su-kyung 4-1 in the women's doubles final of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games table tennis event held on the 2nd at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
North Korean and South Korean teams taking a group photo after the women's doubles table tennis final. [Photo by Yonhap News]
At the subsequent award ceremony, South Korea stood at the top, with North Korea beside them. When Jeon Jin-hee and Shin Yu-bin invited the silver medal-winning North Korean players to come up on the podium for a group photo, they responded despite somewhat somber expressions. Although not very enthusiastic, they shyly reciprocated the high-five from the gold medalists Shin Yu-bin and Jeon Jin-hee.
At the award ceremony for the men's 10m running target shooting team event held on the 25th of last month, North Korean players had refused to take photos with South Korean players.
Regarding that situation, Shin Yu-bin stated, "An official asked us to take a photo together, so we called them over," adding, "There was no special meaning behind it."
When asked what she would have done if they had refused, she replied, "Then we would have just taken the photo anyway," and added, "From the athletes' village onward, I was only thinking about the celebration. I'm really glad I could do the celebration."
However, the North Korean players refused to attend the official press conference, which they were required to attend according to tournament regulations, and left immediately afterward. During the match, a volunteer announced that the women's doubles final press conference might not be held.
Eventually, the press conference was held, but only Shin Yu-bin and Jeon Jin-hee attended. The organizing committee announced at the start of the press conference, "The Chosun team players are absent."
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