A surprise challenge against the world’s strongest opponent, Sun Yingsha Expect crowd cheering
The Korean women’s table tennis team will face the powerhouse China in the quarterfinals of the World Championships being held in Busan. Attention is being paid to whether Korea can cause a surprise by defeating strong players, including world No. 1 Sun Yingsha.
Korea will play against China in the women’s quarterfinals of the ‘BNK Busan Bank 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships’ at BEXCO in Busan from 5 p.m. on the 22nd.
In this tournament, which is held as a national team competition, the first person to win three singles games is the winner.
Korea won the match against Brazil in the round of 16 with a match score of 3-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals, but it is concerning that top-ranked player Shin Yu-bin is faltering ahead of the quarterfinals against China. Shin Yu-bin was the first runner-up in her round of 16, but lost 2-3 to Bruna Takahashi in a close full game. Previously, Shin Yu-bin lost to opposing ace Adriana Diaz in the group stage match against Puerto Rico.
After losing the first game in the round of 16, Shin Yu-bin expressed the burden of taking on the important role of ace. Accordingly, the key is who will play the first game against China. There is a possibility that Jeon Ji-hee will replace Shin Yu-bin as the first runner.
There is a possibility that Jeon Ji-hee, who is in good physical condition, will be the first runner, but this is also unlikely to be the only solution. In the round of 16 match against Thailand, China used world number 3 Chen Meng as the first runner instead of world number 1 Sun Yingsha.
If Jeon Ji-hee faces Chen Meng, Shin Yu-bin will have to face Sun Ying-sha in the second match. In any case, only if Shin Yu-bin overcomes her pressure and overcomes the world’s strongest players can she look forward to advancing to the semifinals.
The Chinese women’s national team ranks first in the world along with the men’s national team. She won the women’s team event at the World Table Tennis Championships five times in a row (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022) and will attempt to win the title for the sixth time in a row at this Busan tournament.
China’s national team ace Sun Yingsha is the world’s No. 1 active player. She has already won a gold medal in the team event at the 2022 Chengdu Games held in her country, and became the women’s singles champion at the world championships last year.
Sun Yingsa was also strong in Shin Yubin and Jeon Jihee. On the international stage, she has won all 6 matches against Shin Yu-bin and 5 matches against Jeon Ji-hee.
Still, there is a possibility that an upset may occur in this tournament. So far, Chinese athletes have competed in situations where Chinese language cheering is loudest wherever they are in the world. On the other hand, this competition was held in Busan and the cheering of Korean spectators was louder.
The women’s national team is also showing its will to create a surprise in front of the home crowd this time. After the match against Brazil in the round of 16, women’s national team coach Oh Kwang-heon said, “It is true that Shin Yu-bin is under a lot of pressure due to all the attention. “She’s getting better at her game, so she’ll show a better performance tomorrow,” she said. “Now that she’s qualified for the Olympics, she’ll take on the challenge of China with a bit of a light heart.”
The Korea Table Tennis Association is also looking forward to the enthusiastic support of the home crowd. The association said, “As Sun Ying-sa is strong, if Shin Yu-bin or Jeon Ji-hee, who will play as Korea’s ace, win, it could shake up the entire Chinese team.” “If the home fans’ enthusiastic support is added to Shin Yu-bin’s stable connection play, the probability of victory may increase slightly.” “He pointed out. 섯다