South Korean table tennis failed to cross the ‘Great Wall of China’ and finished runners-up at the inaugural International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Mixed Team World Cup.The Koreans fell to China 1-8 on a combined game score of 1-8 in the seventh and final match of the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup 2023 Main League on Tuesday in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.With 13 points, South Korea finished the tournament in second place, one point behind China with 14 points.After winning all four of its matches in the preliminary league against Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, and India, South Korea went on a six-game winning streak in the eight-team tournament to raise its hopes of winning the title, but it was unable to overcome the Chinese, who were cheered on by their home fans.South Korea had previously defeated European powerhouses France, Sweden, and Germany, as well as Chinese Taipei, Slovakia, and Japan, which was considered the world’s second-best team.Japan, which lost only to China and Korea, finished third with 12 points.As runners-up in the tournament, Korea Table Tennis will be looking forward to the Busan 2024 Team World Championships on home soil.The Busan World Championships will be held at the Busan BEXCO from February 16-25 next year.The Mixed Team World Cup was organized by the ITTF for the first time this year and will be held annually from now on.
Unlike the WTT Series, which is managed by a separate organization called World Table Tennis (WTT), the World Cup is organized directly by the ITTF. The World Cup was the name given to the ITTF’s top-level international event before the WTT was launched in 2021.The Mixed Team World Cup is not decided by match points, but by the total number of game points in each match. The first team to score eight game points wins the match.South Korea faced China without the services of female veteran Jeon Jeon-hee (Mirae Asset Securities), who was forced to withdraw from the match due to stomach cramps.Shin Yoo-bin (Korean Air), the “ace” who teamed up with Jeon to win the women’s doubles gold medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, was paired with Ahn Jae-hyun (Korea Exchange) at No. 1 doubles.Shin was not at full strength, having missed the previous two matches with shoulder and back problems.China started the day with the “strongest combination” of Wang Chuchin and Sun Yingxia.Wang Chuchin is the next generation ace who won the men’s singles, men’s team, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles titles at this year’s Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, while Sun Yingxia is a powerhouse who won three women’s titles at the same event.Ahn Jae-hyun-Shin Yubin were unable to overcome the strong attack of Wang Chu-chin-Sun Ying-sa, losing the game 0-3 (8-11 8-11 5-11).The tide remained unchanged.In the second singles, Kim Na-young (POSCO International) lost to Wang Man-yu 0-3 (2-11 5-11 7-11).In the third singles, Lee Sang-soo (Samsung Life) took one game from Pan Jeon-dong to keep 무료슬롯게임 Korea’s hopes alive.Lee fell 1-2 (7-11 12-10 4-11) to Pan Jeon-dong.