S. Korean players relishing rare opportunity to play with N. Koreans

By Yoo Jee-ho

DAEJEON, July 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korean table tennis players are relishing a rare opportunity to team up with North Korean partners at an international event at home this week.

The Koreas formed four unified teams at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Platinum Korea Open: Jang Woo-jin (South) and Cha Hyo-sim (North), and Choe Il (North) and Yoo Eun-chong (South) in the mixed doubles; Lee Sang-su (South) and Pak Sin-hyok (North ) in the men's doubles; and Suh Hyo-won (South) and Kim Song-i in the women's doubles.

This is North Korea's first appearance at the Korea Open, now in its 18th edition. And the Koreas have brought together their players for doubles for the first time since the 1991 world championships, where they captured the women's team gold.

In May this year, the Koreas combined their women's teams at the world team championships in Sweden, but team matches only consisted of singles.

All four joint teams here got into action on Thursday as the round of 16 began at Chungmu Sports Arena in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Jang-Cha and Lee-Pak pairs reached the quarterfinals, while the other two tandems were eliminated.

Regardless of the results, South Korean players all spoke highly of their new North Korean partners, though they've only been training together since the start of this week.

Jang and Cha shocked the second-seed team from Hong Kong, Wong Chun Ting-Doo Hoi Kem, 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8). Jang, 22, said later that he had more than a few butterflies in his stomach early in the match, and that he leaned on Cha, 23, for emotional support and encouragement.

Jang said Cha's positive energy helped them duo overcome a 7-0 deficit in the second game, which they ended up winning 11-8.

"When we were down 7-0 in the second game, Cha kept telling me, 'We can do it,'" Jang said. "That really helped me settle down. I think rallying from that deficit was the turning point because it probably affected our opponents."

Jang marveled at Cha's poise under pressure, noting that she had the presence of mind to get a shot off after Jang had slipped and fallen to the floor.

"If we have another opportunity to combine our teams in the future, I'd definitely love to play with Hyo-sim again," Jang said. "She's such a good player. I couldn't believe how calm she was the whole match."

Even in a losing cause in the women's doubles, Suh gave kudos to her partner Kim, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the women's singles.

"Song-i is a great leader, and although I am older, I only have to follow her lead and she makes my life that much easier," Suh said after her team fell to Wang Manyu and Zhu Yuling of China in five games. Suh is eight years Kim's senior at 31.

"In terms of techniques, she is a far superior player," Suh added. "I have so much to learn from her."

For the Korea Open, the Koreas only brought their doubles teams together at the last minute. If the countries want to keep competing as one in future competitions, more systematic preparations could go a long way, Suh opined.

Yoo also bowed out of the tournament, losing in the mixed doubles round of 16 match to a South Korean team, Lee Sang-su and Jeon Ji-hee. But not all was lost for Yoo, who said she enjoyed training and competing with Choe.

"It's an honor to have this opportunity," Yoo said. "We just wanted to go out and have fun, and not think too much about the end result."

Yoo said the two have become such quick friends that they have been trading jabs all week, even after Thursday's loss.

But once matches are over, the Korean players are kept separate. Choe and Yoo staged a dramatic comeback to beat Alvaro Robles and Galia Dvorak of Spain in Tuesday's qualification match -- they took the fifth game 13-11 after trailing 9-7 -- but Yoo said she barely spoke with Choe because he was quickly ushered away by North Korean team officials afterward.

"I've taken a lot of selfies with him this week," Yoo said. "If we play together again in the future, I will print them for him as gifts."

North Korean players have not been made available for interviews so far in the tournament.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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