Shin Yubin wins Paris, Pyeongchang faces China’s strongest group

Shin Yubin travels directly to Paris. China’s top team fails to qualify for the Asian Table Tennis Mixed Doubles in Pyeongchang.

‘A direct ticket to Paris in mixed doubles without China’s top ranked player!

South Korean table tennis will try to earn a “direct ticket to Paris” at the 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which kicks off next month.

According to the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) on Monday, the tournament will award the winners of the men’s and women’s team and mixed doubles events a direct ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In the case of the team event, there is not much at stake other than an early ticket to Paris, as teams can still qualify for the Olympics by finishing in the quarterfinals at the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan early next year.

However, the direct ticket to Paris for mixed doubles, an individual event, has a different meaning.

The two pairs South Korea is sending to the tournament, Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange) and Shin Yoo-bin (Korean Air) (ranked third) and Jang Woo-jin and Jeon Jeon-hee (Mirae Asset Securities) (ranked ninth), will not have to compete in the Olympic Regional Qualification Mixed Doubles event in March/April next year.

In addition, they will be able to focus on singles and men’s and women’s doubles at international tournaments such as the World Table Tennis (WTT) without the burden of mixed doubles.

In particular, the absence of world No. 1 Wang Chuqin-Sun Yingxia, who are considered China’s “strongest” mixed doubles pair, gives South Korea a good chance to win the title.

China’s fourth-ranked pair of Lin Shidong and Kwai Man will also not be competing in Pyeongchang.

The only other Chinese pairs competing in mixed doubles at the tournament are Ling Gaoyuan-Wang Yidi (34th) and Liang Jinkun-Chen Tianyi (25th), who are both ranked outside the top 20.

The Chinese players are always strong regardless of their ranking, so competing for a medal with them will certainly be difficult, but it’s certainly better than competing against the first and fourth-ranked pairs.

Japan’s world No. 2 pair of Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata, who finished as runners-up at the Durban World Table Tennis Championships and WTT Singapore Grand Smash in May, will also be a tough nut to crack for the Koreans to win the mixed doubles gold.

There will also be some internal competition between Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yubin and Jang Woo-jin and Jeon Jeon-hee.

There is only one ticket per country for mixed doubles at the Olympics.

If one of them wins the mixed doubles title at the tournament, the other will have to end their dreams of going to Paris early.

The Pyeongchang Asian Table Tennis Championships will be held from September 3-10 at the Pyeongchang Dome in Gangwon Province.

More than 500 officials and athletes from 35 Asian countries will compete in seven events, including men’s and women’s singles, mixed doubles, and men’s and women’s team events.

Korea arrived in Pyeongchang on Sept. 26 and has been training for the 먹튀검증 Asian Championships since Sept. 27.