S. Korean table tennis player looking to beat Chinese No. 1 in singles

JAKARTA, Aug. 28 (Yonhap) — After suffering a defeat in the team event final, South Korean table tennis ace Jeoung Young-sik on Tuesday said he wants to meet China’s world No. 1 player in the singles event at the 18th Asian Games.

South Korea lost 3-0 to China in the men’s table tennis final at Jakarta International Expo Hall B in Jakarta. It was South Korea’s seventh-straight silver at the Asian Games against the dominant Chinese squad.

Jeoung, 26, took the stage second in the team event. After teammate Lee Sang-su went down in three straight games (11-3, 11-3, 11-2), he faced Fan Zhendong, currently the top-ranked player in men’s singles.

Jeoung, who is ranked No. 26, surprised by Fan by taking the opening game 12-10. But he lost momentum from there, losing three straight games. He dropped both the second and third game 11-8 before losing 11-7 in the fourth game.

“I started playing this sport to beat Chinese players, and for this Asian Games, I practiced hard to beat Fan,” Jeoung said. “I had an opportunity to beat Fan, but I failed. If I can reach the singles final, I want to meet Fan and beat him.”

The men’s singles is the only event left for Jeoung at Jakarta-Palembang 2018. He will begin his individual title hunt from Thursday from the round of 64.

“I feel more responsibility this time because I’m representing so many good singles players in my country,” he said. “But I’m confident for the singles event. If I can play with confidence, I’ll get a good result.”

As for the team silver, Jeoung said he wants to think of it as a positive result.

“There was no easy match at all,” he said. “This is my first Asiad medal, so I want to think of it as a good thing. A team gold medal is something I’ve always wanted. Although we lost, I believe we can deliver medals in singles and mixed doubles in the upcoming days.”

South Korean table tennis player Jeoung Young-sik celebrates during the men’s table tennis team final against China at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on Aug. 28, 2018. (Yonhap)