500 Youth Table Tennis Prospects Competed... Ilwoo Tournament Became Korea's Representative Table Tennis Festival

The Ilwoo Cup National Table Tennis Tournament, named after the late Cho Yang-ho, former chairman of Hanjin Group, was held for two days from the 5th at the Gyeyang Gymnasium in Incheon.

The event was hosted and organized by the Korea Table Tennis Association and sponsored by Korean Air. About 500 young table tennis hopefuls participated in this tournament. On the first day, the 5th, the opening ceremony and group preliminary leagues took place, along with a photo exhibition commemorating former chairman Cho Yang-ho. On the second day, the 6th, the main tournament and awards ceremony were held.

Chairman Cho Won-tae of Hanjin Group (center) and key officials are taking a commemorative photo with participants of the 3rd Ilwoo Cup Table Tennis Tournament.
[Photo by Korean Air]

The Ilwoo Cup National Table Tennis Tournament began in 2022 as part of a memorial project for the late former chairman Cho, who passed away in 2019, and this year marks its third edition. It aims to honor Chairman Cho Yang-ho's dedication to the Korean table tennis community while promoting the development of young table tennis players and revitalizing the sport.

Former chairman Cho Yang-ho devoted himself to the advancement of Korean table tennis from July 2008, when he assumed the presidency of the Korea Table Tennis Association, until his passing in 2019. In 2013, he was unanimously re-elected as president of the association, a first in 18 years. He served as vice president of the Asian Table Tennis Union in 2009 and was an ambassador for the international sports organization 'Peace and Sport.' He contributed to the formation of a unified North-South Korean table tennis team at the 2011 tournament held in Doha, Qatar, the first in 20 years.

The late Cho Yang-ho, former chairman of Hanjin Group, is playing a match at a charity table tennis tournament in 2008.
[Photo by Korean Air]

Korean Air and the Korea Table Tennis Association have pledged to honor the late chairman's wishes by continuing to develop the Ilwoo Cup National Table Tennis Tournament into a festival representing Korean table tennis, contributing to the unity of the table tennis community.