35-year-old Dakgong Lee Sang-soo, who beat him with a wild card and went to the semifinals, and Lee Cheol-seung, head coach of Samsung Life Insurance, praised him (WTT Champions Incheon)

Apr 05, 2025

photo courtesy of the Korea Table Tennis Association

Lee Sang-soo, who turned Chinese ace Lingaoyuan in the quarterfinals at the WTT Champions Incheon, posed a heart for his family and fans after advancing to the semifinals.

"I think Sang-soo is really enjoying it."

Samsung Life Insurance coach Lee Chul-seung evaluated the achievement of Lee Sang-soo (35, 45th in the world) in the semifinals of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions.

Lee Sang-soo beat "Chinese ace" Lingaoyuan (world No. 6) 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the men's singles at Incheon Inspire Arena on the 5th. She secured her first bronze medal in the home competition. Caught the first game at the end of the deuce game, and never got behind 'the Great Wall' anywhere in attack, reception, rally, momentum. Lee Sang-soo, who played the last six games 11-4 lightly, embraced and shared joy with the bench's coach Lee.

Coach Lee is a left-handed ace and a legend of Korean table tennis who won the men's doubles gold medal with his junior Yoo Seung Min (current chairman of the Korea Sports Council) during the 2002 Busan Asian Games. Lee Sang-soo's crazy 'Dakgong', who has been in the same league for more than 15 years since Lee Sang-soo joined Samsung Life in 2009, is also about to retire. I don't know." he smiled.

Lee Sang-soo, who is 35 years old this year, announced his retirement from the national team late last year after beating all his juniors to win the men's singles at the traditional and prestigious table tennis championships. Earlier this year, he did not participate in the selection match for the World Table Tennis Championships. "I'm better at table tennis than I am, and there are many great juniors. I want to push good juniors as seniors so that they can perform much better than me through more opportunities." He also planned to start a leadership class with his team Samsung Life Insurance for the last time this season. This year, instead of the WTT Contender and Star Contender competitions to boost the ranking, they will only participate in the Champions, the top-ranked competition of the WTT.

Is it because he emptied his mind. The ideal check 'Dakgong' became stronger. At the WTT Champions Chongqing, which he participated in last month, he also caused a stir by beating Brazil's ace, Hugo Calderano, who was ranked fifth in the world. In the `Champions Incheon" where the world's top rankers were invited to participate, he beat the 'world's fifth-ranked' Felix LeBrugn in the round of 32 and became the only male player to reach the quarterfinals by lightly beating the"Danish left-handed ace" Anders Lind.

photo courtesy of the Korea Table Tennis Association

photo courtesy of late reporter Ahn Sung-ho.

What is surprising is that Lee Sang-soo's participation in the 'Wild Card' was decided only on the 27th of last month, five days before the start of the competition. Coach Lee Cheol-seung said, "We were not prepared enough because we suddenly decided to participate in the tournament with wild cards. We started preparations last Thursday." Originally, the Chongqing competition last month was considered the last competition. As teammate and national team member Cho Dae-sung withdrew from the 'Champions Incheon' due to injury, a surprise opportunity came to Lee Sang-soo, and he did not miss the opportunity to win. Lee decided to do another 'Last Dance' at a domestic competition. He was willing to challenge himself by wearing a Samsung Life Insurance uniform, not a national team member. His wife, who collaborated for the silver medal in the mixed doubles at the 2013 World Championships and the gold medal in the mixed doubles at the Asian Championships, showed the power of his father to topple the Great Wall while his two children watched him. Lee Sang-soo, the bronze medalist in men's singles at the 2017 World Championships in Dusseldorf, is the strongest player for China among Korean table tennis players. On days when the ball hits properly, it is equipped with a brilliant window that can penetrate both Marong and Panjendong, 'Dakgong'.

Coach Lee once trained with Felix LeBrigg in our team (Samsung Life Insurance) ahead of the World Championship last year. At that time, there was a bit of a pushback, but it unraveled while playing. Once Sangsu starts to unravel with a fast beat opponent like Felix or Lingaoyuan, he can't control it. "I was worried that my body would be heavy because I didn't practice much, but as I played with top rankers repeatedly, it got better and better." As a reason for holding Lingaoyuan, coach Lee said, `When playing with Chinese players, it is important to stick tight until the end. If you follow me hard to the end, the Chinese players will be embarrassed and shaken passively." "Sang Sang-soo did not miss Lingaoyuan's mistake, and winning the 12-10 deuce game with five points down at a time when he was losing 7-10 in four games became the match."

photo courtesy of late reporter Ahn Sung-ho.

As for the secret of Lee Sang-soo's consistent top-notch skills for 15 years, coach Lee cited "steady self-management, practice amount". "Over thirty, the amount of practice is halved, and there is a lot of treatment, reinforcement, and management, but Sangsu has more or the same amount of practice as his juniors until just recently. No matter how good the player is technically, the amount of practice and physical strength must not be matched, but Sang-soo has the same amount of practice and training process as he was in his prime and now. That's why he evaluated it as being able to endure that much." "As we get older, our RBI will slow down and our ball speed and power will decrease, so we will collapse on our own, but Sang-soo's cheek is coming back to life." He said, "You'll have to be embarrassed because the opponent's fast beat comes at a faster beat." "As I approach my retirement period, I feel more comfortable psychologically. I'm enjoying every game. It seems that he only thinks, 'Let's do what we prepared, let's have fun'. I think the result is coming because I didn't get nervous and did it boldly in the last game," he smiled.

Director Lee also nodded at the view that his ability to still work on the world stage and his retirement was a waste. "After winning the general competition last year, Sangsu's play was relaxed. I feel relaxed and comfortable with receiving and defense. In the past, there were some urgent parts, but as the table tennis career approaches the end, table tennis is becoming more sophisticated" he complimented.

Even for director Lee, who is in his mid-30s, 'Aejeja'Dakgong' is a happy 'mystery' that goes against Lee Sang-soo's years. Ahead of the semifinal match against Lin Yun-ju of Taiwan's left-handed ace on the 6th, Lee expressed expectations. "Lin Yun-ju is said to be picky, but there must be a gap." If you prepare well, you will be able to win another good match."

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.