Korean women’s table tennis duo Shin Yoo-bin 메이저사이트(19, Korean Air) and Jeon Jeon-hee (31, Mirae Asset Securities) have reached the quarterfinals of the World Championships.
The duo defeated Bernadette Sutz (ROM) and Sophia Polkanova (AUS) 3-0 (11-9 15-13 11-4) in the women’s doubles quarterfinals of the 2023 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Championships at the Durban International Convention Center (DICC) in South Africa on Friday (July 25).
Shin Yubin has been playing well in international competitions since last year, when she overcame a right wrist injury. She has grown from a “table tennis prodigy” to an ace of Korean women’s table tennis, reaching the round of 16 in the women’s singles at the tournament.
In the women’s doubles event, she teamed up with Jeon Jeon-hee to reach the quarterfinals.
Jeon Jeon-hee (right) and Shin Yoo-bin ⓒKorea Table Tennis Association
Jeon Jeon-hee was eliminated in the third round of the women’s singles the previous day with a 0-4 (9-11 6-11 6-11 10-12) loss to Japan’s Miu Hirano. However, she made up for her singles disappointment by reaching the quarterfinals in the doubles.
On their way to the quarterfinals, Shin and Jeon met last year’s European champions Sötz-Polkanova.
In the first game, Shin and Jeon took a 10-6 lead. With Jeon’s bold attacks and Shin’s sharp backhand, they scored back-to-back points and took a step closer to winning game one. However, Sötz-Polkanova closed the gap to 9-10. After taking a breather and regaining their focus, Shin Yubin and Jeon Jeon-hee put the brakes on their opponents’ pursuit and took the first game 11-9.
Shin Yubin (right) and Jeon Jeon-hee ⓒKorea Table Tennis Association
Sötz-Polkanova fought back and took a 7-4 lead in game two. After gradually narrowing the gap, Shin Yoo-bin and Jeon Jeon-hee created a 10-10 deuce. After forcing their opponents into an error at 13-13, the pair reached the 15th point and took game two.
The momentum of Shin Yubin-Jeon-hee, who are on the verge of qualifying for the quarterfinals, continued in game three. Following Jeon’s sharp serve, Shin scored back-to-back points with her fierce attack and took a 9-4 lead. After winning the third game, Shin and Jeon secured a spot in the quarterfinals.
They will play the winner of the quarterfinal match between “World No. 1” Sun Ying-Sha and Wang Man-yu of China and Li Yu-Hsin and Chung Ching of Chinese Taipei.
Meanwhile, TV channels SPOTV and SPOTV ON, as well as sports OTT service SPOTV NOW, will provide live satellite coverage of key matches at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships. There will also be live coverage on SPOTV ASIA. SPOTV Asia is available in 13 countries across the Southeast Asian region and offers a wide range of content, including tennis Grand Slam events Wimbledon and the US Open, men’s professional tennis ATP Tour, motorcycle racing event MotoGP, World Table Tennis (WTT) table tennis events, BWF badminton events and the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Sport Climbing World Cup.