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| photo courtesy of late reporter Ahn Sung-ho. |
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"Chinese athletes are people, too."
This is what Lee Sang-soo (35, Samsung Life Insurance, 45th in the world) said after breaking down the Great Wall once again at the World Table Tennis Champions Incheon on the 5th.
Lee Sang-soo returned 'Chinese ace'Lingao Yuan (30, world No. 6) to a game score of 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the men's singles at Inspire Arena in Incheon. Lingao Yuan was shaken by the current trend, the momentum of turning Felix Lebrung back to the fifth place in the world. There was not an inch behind in the fore, back drive, reception, defense, rally fight, and momentum. In a rare fight against China, the Inspire Arena roared with shouts of `Lee Sang-soo!'
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Table Tennis Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Table Tennis Association |
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Lee Sang-soo, the oldest member of South Korea's men's table tennis team, who competed in the Rio and Tokyo Olympics following the lineage of 'Yoo Seung Min, Oh Sang-eun, Joo Se-hyuk', is an ace nicknamed 'Dakgong' for his fast feet and powerful foredrive. On a day when the ball hits properly, Chinese aces such as Marong and Pan Zhendong are also turned around, and he is the ace who has the most medals in the world championship for the longest period with a firm 'one shot'. Park Young-sook, who is now his wife, won a silver medal in mixed doubles at the 2013 Paris World Championships, and Chung Young-sik won a bronze medal at the 2015 Suzhou World Championships, the 2017 Dusseldorf World Championships individual singles and doubles, and the 2023 Durban World Championships with Cho Dae-sung, his 12th-generation junior. He is also the strongest player against China until recently. In the round of 16 at the 2023 WTT Champions Frankfurt, he beat 「World No. 1」Pang Jendong, the semifinal match against China at the Busan World Championship (team event) in February last year, and defeated 「World No. 5」Lingao Yuan at the WTT Singapore Smash in March. And in the return match for the first time in a year 'Anbang', he turned Lingao Yuan again, securing the only Korean player to advance to the semifinals and a bronze medal, and keeping the pride of Korean table tennis.
After confirming the podium, Lee Sang-soo was humble as always. When asked about the secret to the semifinals, he answered "Lingao Yuan is a player who doesn't make many mistakes, but he made a mistake today, and I had a lot of luck." "I was usually at a disadvantage when it came to a connection, but today I went 5-5 in the rally fight." The stable reception that made 'Dakgong' stand out. "There were a lot of frustrating games against the left hand, so I did a lot of receiving training."," he replied. Lee Sang-soo was strong in Lingaoyuan. With the victory, the opponents won a total of 6 wins and 5 losses and 3 wins and 5 losses based on their senior performance alone.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Table Tennis Association |
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Jang Woo-jin, Lim Jong-hoon, Ahn Jae-hyun, and other outstanding juniors of the national team were all eliminated, and due to the injury of Cho Dae-sung, the eldest brother who decided to play with the 'wild card' a week ago caused the accident of reaching the semifinals by himself. Lee Sang-soo announced his retirement from the national team after winning his first championship by beating all of his juniors in the men's singles at last year's championship. He also planned to prepare for the leader's path from his team, Samsung Life Insurance, which supported him consistently. In preparation for the end of his career, Samsung Life Insurance coach Lee Chul-seung is also surprisingly showing a refined and stable performance. Is it because I let go of my mind. There is a margin of 'pull and pull' that can be comfortably received without being in a hurry as in the past. He waved his hand when he said, `Shouldn't he return to the national team?', but this is why there are talks about 'It's a waste to retire from the field.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Table Tennis Association |
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As Lee Sang-soo showed his juniors the way to go by maintaining unwavering competitiveness even at the age of mid-30s, he said, `The juniors are much better. He lowered himself, saying, "He's much more capable than I am." "Now I'm in the semifinals, but more juniors will be in the podium in the future. I have to work hard on my table tennis, but I want to support and support my juniors a lot from behind." The secret of surpassing China the most was "Confidence". "I'm confident that I can beat anyone on a day when the ball goes in properly."," he said with a smile. "No one wants to lose from the moment they enter. It is also my strength to never give up and bite to the end, and that became an opportunity to beat China. "As seniors and teachers say, Chinese athletes are also people. "If you prepare thoroughly and show enough of ours, you can do well" he said.
In the semifinal match to be held at 1:30 p.m. on the 6th, he will face "Taiwan left-handed ace" Lin Yun-ju (23, world No. 14). He lost 3-4 at the 2019 Asian Cup after a close game of full games. Lee Sang-soo will try again against Lin Yun-ju, who has a tricky ball," he said with a smile. "The goal of this tournament was to have fun and great games for the home audience every game. Now that we're here, I want to show you a good match in the semifinals" expressed a calm determination.
The semifinal match will be accompanied by Lee Dong-guk's family in the 'Nae Dong-joong - Samsung Life Insurance's direct senior, Athens Olympic Champion' Yoo Seung Min, president of the Korean Sports Council, and will be in-person with the family of 'Football Legend'. Lee Sang-soo said, `All I have to show to Chairman Yoo is his performance. I'll do my best to show you a fun game" expressed his determination.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
