South Korea's men's table tennis team came within reach of an Asian title for the first time in five years but could not get past China.
The team lost the men's team final 0-3 to China at the 29th ITTF-ATTU Asian Table Tennis Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on the 22nd, Korea time, settling for the runner-up spot.
All three matches were closely fought. Leading off, Kang Dong-soo, ranked 158th in the world and playing for Samsung Life Insurance, dropped the first two games to Zhou Qihao, ranked 13th, then took the third before losing the fourth 9-11 for a 1-3 defeat (8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11).
Park Kyu-hyun, ranked 80th and playing for Mirae Asset Securities, was beaten 0-3 by Lin Shidong, ranked ninth (11-13, 8-11, 6-11). Losing the opening game after extra points proved costly.
The last hope was Park Kang-hyun, ranked 46th and the highest-ranked Korean player at the tournament, who also plays for Mirae Asset Securities. Park dropped the first game 12-14 to Xiang Peng, then hit back to take the third 11-9, but could not close out the fourth, falling 7-11 for a 1-3 loss (12-14, 7-11, 11-9, 7-11).
The result was a defeat, but there were gains in the process. This squad was effectively a second-string lineup, without such mainstays as Jang Woo-jin of SeAH and Lim Jong-hoon of the Korea Exchange, who competed at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Even so, the team routed India 3-0 in the quarterfinals and beat Japan 3-1 in the semifinals to reach the men's team final at this event for the first time in five years, a run seen as confirming the potential of a generational shift.
The women's team, meanwhile, was stopped by China in the team semifinals and secured a bronze medal. The women's lineup consisted of Lee Eun-hye, ranked 52nd, and Park Ga-hyun, ranked 109th, both of Korean Air; Lee Da-eun, ranked 133rd, of the Korea Racing Authority; and Yoo Si-woo, ranked 169th, and Lee Si-on, ranked 194th, both of Hwaseong Urban Corporation.