South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin advanced to the mixed doubles semifinals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games following a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ru and Cheng I-ching on October 25. Because table tennis does not feature a third-place playoff match, the win guarantees the South Korean pair at least a bronze medal as they move two steps closer to the tournament’s top podium.
Quarterfinal Victory Over Taiwan
The world No. 1 pair secured their semifinal berth at Sky Hall Toyota in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, by defeating world No. 10 Lin Yun-ru and Cheng I-ching with set scores of 11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 5-11, and 12-10. After trading the first four games, the match culminated in a tense deuce battle during the fifth and final game.
Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin initially built a 5-2 lead in the fifth game driven by Lim’s consecutive successful attacks. However, unforced errors allowed the Taiwanese duo to battle back and tie the score at 10-10. Following a long rally, a decisive attack from Taiwan hit the net to hand the South Korean pair an 11-10 advantage, and Taiwan failed to return the subsequent shot to end the match.
Upcoming Semifinal Matchup
In the semifinal match scheduled for 7:15 p.m. on the same day, Lim and Shin face China’s world No. 6 pair, Lin Shi-jung and Quai Man. While the historical head-to-head record stands at 1 win and 3 losses against the Chinese duo, the South Korean pair won their most recent encounter.
That prior victory occurred in December, when Lim and Shin defeated Lin Shi-jung and Quai Man 3-1 in the semifinals of the WTT Hong Kong Finals. The pair subsequently went on to win the final against Wang Chuchin and Sun Ying-sha of China, who advanced to the opposite semifinal bracket of the current Asian Games tournament.