Carefully Pressed Signature... Spotlight on 8-Year-Old Shin Yubin [Paris Olympics]

Table Tennis National Team's Shin Yubin, Appeared on a 2011 Broadcast
Neatly Signed Autographs as 'Shin Yubin' for Guests at the Table Tennis Hall
"Olympic Medalist, When Did You Grow Up So Well?"

Shin Yu-bin's valuable achievement of bringing an Olympic table tennis medal to Korea for the first time in 12 years has recently sparked attention due to a past autograph she gave to a fan. Shin Yu-bin appeared on KBS LIFE's 'Leisurely Summer Vacation Special for Prodigies' in 2011. At the time, the 8-year-old Shin Yu-bin was called a 'table tennis prodigy' and the 'Millennium Hyun Jung-hwa.' Having started playing table tennis at the age of three at the table tennis hall run by her father, a former player, Shin Yu-bin swept various tournament victories as soon as she entered elementary school, showcasing dazzling skills that caught people's attention even at a young age.

Shin Yubin signing an autograph for a visitor who came to the table tennis hall. [Image source=KBS broadcast screen capture]

At that time, Shin Yu-bin introduced the 'backhand drive,' a technique difficult for elementary school students, as her specialty. She played table tennis using a popsicle stick as a racket and even used a cell phone and a pot lid to play. Additionally, she demonstrated skills comparable to those of a 6th-grade elementary school table tennis player and Kim Kyung-seop, a national para table tennis player. Kim Kyung-seop said, "Even though she is in the first grade of elementary school, her placement is quite good and her drive is fierce. She is fully recognized as a talent who will lead Korean table tennis in the future."

During the broadcast, a visitor to the table tennis hall requested an autograph from the young Shin Yu-bin. Shin Yu-bin carefully wrote her full name 'Shin Yu-bin' neatly on an A4 sheet and handed it over, and this scene has become a hot topic in online communities. Netizens responded, "The way she writes it with such care is really cute," "It would be funny if she still signed her full name like that now," and "When did little Yu-bin grow up so well?"

On the 31st of last month (local time), at the South Paris Arena in Paris, France, during the women's singles round of 32 in table tennis at the 2024 Paris Olympics, South Korea's Shin Yubin is celebrating after scoring against Hungary's Georgina Pota.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Now 20 years old, Shin Yu-bin, on the 30th of last month (local time), teamed up with Lim Jong-hoon in the mixed doubles bronze medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics table tennis event and achieved a great victory by defeating the Hong Kong pair Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi Kem (ranked 4th) 4-0 to win the bronze medal. This is the first time in 12 years since the Korean table tennis team won the silver medal in the men's team event at the 2012 London Olympics.