[Asian Games] Table Tennis ‘Handsome Doubles Team’ Park Kang-hyun and Ahn Jae-hyeon “I Will Try to Beat China Once”

A new ‘new weapon’ was formed at the PyeongChang Asian Championships earlier this month.

“We will use today as an opportunity to prepare more thoroughly and win.”

Park Kang-hyun (27, Korea Water Resources Corporation) and Ahn Jae-hyeon (23, Korea Exchange) realized the height of the ‘Great Wall of China’ on the Asian Games stage for the first time.

However, he was not discouraged and shouted for 'individual gold medal'.  카지노사이트

The Korean national team, led by coach Joo Se-hyuk, lost to China with a match score of 0-3 in the men's table tennis team event held at the Gungsu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 26th.

Coach Joo made an unexpected choice, entrusting the important responsibility of the 1st singles ace to Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange) instead of Jang Woo-jin, while promoting Ahn Jae-hyun and Park Kang-hyeon to the 2nd and 3rd singles, respectively.

Believing that there was no chance of winning in a head-to-head match with China, they placed Jang Woo-jin, who had always been the number one option for the national team in this tournament, on the bench and selected Lim Jong-hoon, who has a good fighting spirit.

It was a choice based on the expectation that if Lim Jong-hoon could catch Wang Chu-qin, who is relatively inexperienced among Chinese players, 'Young Gun' Jae-hyun Ahn and Park Kang-hyun, who have not yet played much on the international stage, could produce unexpected results against Fan Zhendong and Ma Rong, respectively.

However, Lim Jong-hoon narrowly lost to Wang Chu-qin with a score of 1-3.

With China taking the lead, it was very difficult to psychologically shake world number one Fan Zhendong and table tennis 'GOAT' (best player of all time) Ma Long.

They tried every attack they could, but in the end, both Ahn Jae-hyun and Park Kang-hyeon were defeated 0-3.

It's not that there was never a chance.

Park Kang-hyeon, whom we met in the mixed zone (joint coverage area) after the game, confessed, “I lost the first game and had a match point of 10-9, but it’s unfortunate that I reacted passively at that time.”

Ahn Jae-hyun sighed, saying, “I led 10-7 in the second game, and if I had done well there, I could have made Pan Zhendong nervous and I could have been on the rise.”

Korean table tennis had to be content with a silver medal in the men's team event at the Asian Games for the eighth consecutive time.

In the finals of these eight tournaments, they always lost to China.

There is an analysis that the difference in skill level between China, where table tennis is the most popular sport, and other countries is growing.

Even in the team competition that day, the Korean players must have keenly felt the gap.

However, Park Kang-hyun and Ahn Jae-hyun know well that even if they cannot overcome the Great Wall of China, it is the destiny of Korean table tennis players to work hard without stopping.

You have to keep bumping into it and cracking it to be able to break it down one day.

Just as Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, won the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics by defeating current Chinese national team coach Wang Hao.

Park Kang-hyeon and Ahn Jae-hyun do not bow their heads and continue to challenge themselves in their individual exhibitions.

The two compete as a team in men's doubles.

Although they teamed up for the first time at the PyeongChang Asian Championships held earlier this month, they surprised fans by winning a bronze medal and set an ambitious goal of winning a gold medal in Hangzhou.

Ahn Jae-hyun looked at Park Kang-hyun and said, "Honestly, our goal is a gold medal. We can only win a gold medal if we beat China.

We will use today's loss as an opportunity to prepare well."

Park Kang-hyeon said, “Jae-hyeon is the younger sister who doesn’t listen, but she is sure about table tennis,” she said with a laugh.

She continued, "I am the older brother, but in front of the table, Jaehyun gives orders and I follow," and looked at Ahn Jaehyun as if she were proud of him.

Ahn Jae-hyun and Park Kang-hyeon have many female fans due to their outstanding looks.

Now that Jeong Young-sik (Mirae Asset Securities coach), who was once called the handsome man in the table tennis world, has retired, Ahn Jae-hyun and Park Kang-hyun are considered the 'top two' men's table tennis players in terms of appearance.

When asked which of the two he thought was more handsome, Park Kang-hyun replied, "I'm better," and Ahn Jae-hyun laughed, saying, "If you like a man without double eyelids, it's definitely me."

The ‘one team spirit’, the driving force behind the ‘silver medal’, remained alive even after the finals.

Lim Jong-hoon, who was standing between the two, shouted loudly, “Neither of them.

(Jang) Woo-jin is the most handsome.”

Lim Jong-hoon said emphatically, “Woojin is the best at table tennis and is our country’s ace.

I will keep Woojin’s spirit alive.”

The solo exhibition, where a new challenge will unfold, begins on the 27th.

Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon will compete in singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles, while Ahn Jae-hyeon and Park Kang-hyeon will only compete in men's doubles.