(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ahn Hong-seok = The preparation process devoted to 'raising the world ranking' is first mentioned as the reason for Korean table tennis' worst performance of 'no silver' at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
According to the Korean Table Tennis Association's regulations for selecting representatives for this Asian Games on the 27th, the top 1 group within the top 4 in Asia in mixed doubles and the top 3 players within the top 50 in men's and women's singles are automatically selected.
Of the five male and female entries, four each secured national team qualification in accordance with these regulations.
The top ranked mixed doubles players, Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange) and Shin Yu-bin (Korean Air), as well as men's Jang Woo-jin (SeAH), Ahn Jae-hyun, and Oh Jun-seong (Korea Exchange), and women Joo Cheon-hee (Samsung Life Insurance), Kim Na-young (POSCO International), and Lee Eun-hye (Korean Air) wore the Taegeuk mark as top rankers.
In order to raise or maintain their rankings, they had to continuously participate in the World Table Tennis (WTT) competition, an international competition series.
As a result, there was not enough time to focus on training. National team general manager Choi Young-il also acknowledged this ahead of the Asian Games.
At the media day held at the Jincheon Athletes' Village last July, General Manager Choi said, "As the players participate in too many international competitions, they do not have enough time to train, so this is a supplementary step."
Too frequent participation in international competitions is also cited as the reason why the mixed doubles team of Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin, who were the top gold medal candidates for the Korean national team, were eliminated in the semifinals. Shin Yu-bin, the centerpiece of the mixed swim team, looked noticeably tired in this competition.
However, it is difficult to see that there is a particularly big problem with the current regulations, which effectively make rankings the top condition for national team selection.
This is because if the ranking is high, there is a greater chance of meeting the โstrongestโ China late as it receives a good seed in international competitions such as the Asian Games.
In table tennis, if we meet China late, a player who would be satisfied with advancing to the quarterfinals can aim for a bronze medal, and a player who was aiming for a bronze medal can expect to advance to the finals.
At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, Korea achieved the feat of winning its first Asian Games gold medal in 21 years in the women's doubles, led by Shin Yu-bin and Jeon Ji-hee (retired). At this time, Shin Yu-bin and Jeon Ji-hee had the good fortune of not meeting the Chinese group as they were all eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The current method of selecting players based on rankings has its pros and cons. In the end, the table tennis world shares the perception that the fundamental cause of poor performance should be found in the โskillsโ of the players rather than in the national team selection and management system.
Korea, which had long been pushed back by not only China but also Japan, was caught by players of various nationalities in this tournament.
In previous years, there were several athletes who came close to the โGreat Wall of Chinaโ and achieved medal-level results, but in this competition, most athletes did not even get there.
Korea suffered a miserable failure in men's and women's singles and doubles, with all players eliminated at the quarterfinals or lower. They only won three bronze medals in the men's and women's team event and mixed doubles.
At the Hangzhou Games, Korean table tennis won a total of 8 medals, including 2 bronze medals in men's and women's singles, 1 gold medal, 2 silver medals, and 5 bronze medals.
This is the first time that Korea has failed to win a silver medal in this event since 1958, when table tennis became an official event at the Asian Games.
Shin Yu-bin and Joo Cheon-hee (Samsung Life Insurance) lost to Thailand's Sutashini Sawetabut and Orawan Paranang in the women's doubles quarterfinals, and the highly anticipated Oh Jun-seong and Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange) also lost 1-3 to Japan's Matsushima Sora and Dogami Suke in the men's doubles quarterfinals.
It is especially painful that we were unable to send a single player to the quarterfinals in the men's singles.
The men's singles runners were wiped out as Jang Woo-jin (SeAH), who had long been the Korean men's ace, lost 0-4 to Taiwan's Feng Yixin in the round of 16.
This result clearly shows the weakening โsingles competitivenessโ of Korean table tennis.
Regarding the men's national team's poor performance, some analyzes suggest that the sudden resignation of coach Oh Sang-eun in June, three months before the tournament, may have had some influence.
When Coach Oh, who is also Oh Jun-seong's father, resigned, the men's national team experienced confusion as it transitioned to a leadership system under General Manager Choi and coaches Yoon Jae-young and Hwang Seong-hoon.
