KB News Desk
The host country South Korea was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the women’s tournament at the table tennis world championships Thursday, following a crushing loss to world No. 1 China.
Boasting the world’s top three-ranked female players, China shut down South Korea 3-0 in the quarterfinals at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan.
In the team tournament, each match is made up of up to five singles matches in a best-of-five format. Teams are each carrying five players, but only three players can play in each match.
Against South Korea, China sent world No. 1 Sun Yingsha, No. 2 Wang Yidi and No. 3 Chen Meng.
Sun took care of 44th-ranked Lee Zion 3-0 (11-1, 11-5, 11-1).
Chen stepped up and defeated 21st-ranked Jeon Ji-hee 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-9).
South Korea’s final hope rested on the shoulders of the 19-year-old Shin Yu-bin, the team’s highest-ranked player at No. 8. But Wang beat Shin 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 12-10) to close out South Korea.
Shi is now a career 0-5 against Wang, dating back to her junior years.
In even-numbered years, the ITTF holds the team world championships. South Korea has not won a women’s team medal since taking home bronze in 2012.
By making it to the quarterfinals, though, South Korea grabbed a spot at the Paris Olympics this summer.
South Korea went a perfect 4-0 in the group stage to reach the round of 16, where it then knocked off Brazil 3-1.
But South Korea ran into the wall that is China, which is trying to win its 14th title in the past 15 world championships.
South Korea is still alive on the men’s side. The host country will face Denmark in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. Friday.
If South Korea gets past Denmark, it will likely face China, the 10-time defending world champion, in the semifinals scheduled for Saturday.
