Korean table tennis advances to the finals in 3 out of 4 events of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Bangkok 2023 competition, aiming for the first championship ever.

World No. 17 Jang Woo-jin (Korea Armed Forces Sports Corps) in men’s singles, World No. 38 Joo Chun-hee (Samsung Life Insurance) in women’s singles, and Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange) in men’s doubles will challenge for the championship.

Woojin Jang won 3-0 (11-8 11-9 11-5) against Anton Calveri (31st in the world) of Sweden in the semifinals of the men’s singles event held in Bangkok, Thailand on the 28th (Korean time).

Jang Woo-jin gained the upper hand by defeating Calberry at the WTT Macau Champions last week.

Woojin Jang’s final opponent is Lin Gaoyuan, China, who is ranked 10th in the world. Jang Woo-jin is behind Lin Gao-yuan with 1 win and 2 losses.

In the women’s singles semifinals, Chun-Hee Joo defeated Japan’s 35th ranked Miyu Nagasaki 3-1 (8-11 11-4 11-6 11-8).

Ju Chun-hee, who gave up her first game, won three games after adapting to her opponent’s pitch. Chunhee Joo, who defeated Miwa Harimoto in the quarterfinals, defeated Japanese players in two straight matches.

Joo Chun-hee, a naturalized Chinese player belonging to Samsung Life Insurance, is also the most victorious player in the Korean Professional Table Tennis League Women’s Korea League, which ended last month. Since the beginning of last year, Joo Chun-hee has appeared on the international stage wearing a Samsung uniform. It was the first time she had reached the individual singles final at the Contender Series. However, Zhu Chunhui still wears her Taegeuk mark due to the rules for her naturalization period, and she cannot compete in the international championships.

Chunhui Zhu’s final opponent is China’s Chen Xingtong, ranked 6th in the world. Zhu Chunhui has never faced Chen Xingtong, so she has no record of opponents.

As a result, Korean table tennis will participate in 3 out of 4 event finals. Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon, who previously advanced to the men’s doubles final, will face China’s Lin Gao-yuan and Lin Si-dong in the afternoon. Prior to this, Ju Chun-hee and Jang Woo-jin will compete in the individual singles finals in turn.

The WTT Star Contenderweight Championship is a professional tour series organized by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the organization dedicated to international competitions, WTT. The Star Contenderweight division is one step lower than the WTT Championsweight division and one step higher than the WTT Contenderweight division.크크크벳

Korean table tennis has won the WTT Contenderweight Championship, but has never won the Star Contenderweight Championship, which is a higher level. In September last year, Jang Woo-jin won the women’s singles championship in Muscat, and women’s singles Shin Yu-bin (Korean Air) won the contenderweight championship in Nova Gorica, Slovenia in November.

Meanwhile, Lim Jong-hun and Shin Yu-bin, who advanced to the mixed doubles final, were defeated by China’s Lin Gao-yuan and Chen Xing-tong. Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin won the first and second games first to win the game, but they lost the next three games 2-3 (11-7 11-9 9-11 6-11 8-11) and had to be satisfied with the runner-up. did.