Table Tennis Men's Team Advances to Quarterfinals by Defeating 'Eastern Europe's Strongest' Croatia [Paris Olympics]

Clash with India-China Winner at 5 PM on the 7th

Korean men's table tennis defeated Eastern Europe's strongest team, Croatia, advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympic team event.

The Korean team, composed of Jang Woojin (sponsored by SeAH), Lim Jonghoon (Korea Exchange), and Cho Daeseong (Samsung Life), won decisively 3-0 against Croatia in the round of 16 of the men's team event held on the 6th (local time) at the South Paris Arena in France.

Jonghoon Lim [Image source=AP·Yonhap News]

Croatia is a powerhouse ranked 11th in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) team rankings, the highest among Eastern European countries. Korea is ranked 6th, five places higher.

Croatia was the opponent the Korean team most wanted to avoid in the round of 16. Croatian players have repeatedly caught Korean players off guard on the international stage.

However, Korea achieved a 'perfect victory' this time. The pair of Jang Woojin and Cho Daeseong, who have recently focused on building synergy at the World Table Tennis (WTT) events, led the charge to victory.

Jang Woo-jin - Cho Dae-sung duo
Image source=AFP·Yonhap News

In the first doubles match, they defeated the Croatian duo of Filip Zelko and Andrey Gacina 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-6), seizing the initiative.

In the second singles, Lim Jonghoon (ranked 29th) continued the momentum by beating Croatia's highest-ranked player, Pucar (ranked 51st), 3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-9), signaling Korea's impending victory.

The third singles 'ace' Jang Woojin (ranked 13th) finished the match by defeating Andrey Gacina (ranked 62nd) 3-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4). This was a clean revenge on a bigger stage for the loss he suffered against Gacina in the round of 32 at the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana men's singles in June.

Korea will face the winner of the China-India match at 5 p.m. Korean time on the 7th.