As we all know, national table tennis has a pivotal position in the world table tennis arena, and those who can pose a threat to national table tennis, in addition to Japanese table tennis, belong to the Korean table tennis team. The South Korean team has always been a fierce rival of national table tennis, and it is also the team that has won the Olympic gold medal second only to the national table tennis team, and its strength should not be underestimated.
Just from the 9th to the 13th of this month, the South Korean table tennis national team held a selection tournament, forming a new lineup for the national team and locking in which South Korean opponents the national table tennis team will encounter in this year. A total of 15 athletes from 7 men and 8 women passed the first round of the test, and Zhang Yuzhen, Jung Young-sik, Lee Sang-so, Tian Zhixi, and Xu Hyo-won, five players, with the latest ranking released by the International Table Tennis Federation, were successfully guaranteed to enter the new round of the Korean national team, and did not need to participate in the selection competition, and together with the above 15 players, they formed the new lineup of the Korean national team.
Shen Yubin and Cui Xiaozhu, who let the fans pay more attention, were not selected for the national team, Shen Yubin began to retire from the Houston World Table Tennis Championships as early as the end of November due to injury, and now the injury has not yet healed, so he was not selected for this game. She will also miss this year's World Table Tennis Championships and Asian Games, which makes fans who like her feel very sorry.
Although Choi Hyo-joo won the eighth place in this selection competition, due to his status as a Chinese player, the Korean team still made a policy of restricting the number of Chinese naturalized players, so he was not selected.
With the end of the audition, let's take a look at some Korean table tennis players!
Men's team:
The first place, Zhao Dacheng, the best record was in the 2020 German Open, the men's doubles paired with Zhang Yuzhen defeated the Chinese pairs Ma Long and Lin Gaoyuan 3:2.
The second, Kim Dong-hyun, won the men's singles title at the 2017 Belgian Open.
The third, Lin Zhongxun, and his partner Zhang Yuzhen won the men's doubles runner-up at the 2021 Table Tennis Asian Championships.
Fourth place, Zhao Chengmin, in the 2016 World Youth Championships, Zhao Chengmin won the men's singles runner-up.
Fifth, Ahn Jae-hyun, whose main prize was reaching the final four at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships.
The sixth is Kang Dong-so and the seventh is Hwang Min-ha.
Women's team:
The first, Li Shiwen, won the first place in the women's team in this selection competition, which shows that the strength is good, but it has not yet had a relatively high score in international competitions.
The second, Kim Ha-young, was a table tennis player in China's Tianjin team, but because he was not reused, he chose to become a Korean citizen in March 2016, like her contemporary Wang Yidi, who has become a national player.
Third, Yin Xiaobin.
The fourth, Liang Xiayin, was runner-up in women's doubles with Tian Zhixi at the 2018 China Open.
Fifth place, Kim Na Young
Sixth, Liu Hanna
Seventh place, Venus
Eighth, Liu Grace
It can be seen that among these players, there are still many who have not won the ranking in major international competitions, and even have not appeared, at present, the South Korean team is also in the critical period of the replacement of new and old players, whether the young players represented by Shin Yubin can pick up the beam, but also rely on more practice in the future, but this time Shen Yubin failed, can only wish other players good luck, I hope they can move forward with the national table tennis, work hard!
What do you think of these table tennis players who were selected for the Korean national team? Welcome to discuss in the comments section.