‘Captain’ table tennis duo overcome 20-year gap to win gold…Joo Young-dae wins second title, Jang Young-jin first
The ‘captain’ duo overcame a 20-year generation gap to bring another gold medal to Korean table tennis.
Joo Young-dae (50-Gyeongnam Disability Sports Association) and Jang Young-jin (30-Seoul City Hall) defeated Thailand’s Tinatet Nattaut-Chuewong Thirayu 3-0 (11-3 11-4 11-8) in the men’s doubles final of the MD4 at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games on Sunday at the Gungsu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
The 2020 Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist also won the Taichung Open in July this year, finishing first in both singles and doubles. In Hangzhou, he was also the dominant force in the TT1 men’s singles event, winning his second gold medal of the day on Friday.
Jang won his first gold medal of the Asian Para Games. After the match, he said, “I went into the final with the mindset that I could beat my opponent because I had played against him in international competitions. The match went well as expected.”
Joo Young-dae, born in 1973, and Jang Young-jin, born in 1993, overcame a 20-year age gap to reach the top of the Asian rankings. “Our strategy was to pass the ball without too much effort and let Jang Young-jin finish it, and it worked,” said Joo. “With my experience, I was able to play a calm role and let my partner use his strength and speed to achieve good results.” 온라인카지노
Game 1 started with a back-and-forth exchange of mistakes, but Korea’s solid defense and quick offense gave them a comfortable 11-3 victory. Game 2 was just as one-sided. Jang Young-jin calmly received the ball and racked up points, forcing her opponent into errors as they tried to catch up.
In the third game, after three consecutive errors in the early stages, Jang tied the game at 7-7 with a dig. Focused, Korea upped the ante. A ball hit by a Thai player hit the net to set up match point, and Korea took the final point.
The de facto final was the quarterfinal match between Park Jin-cheol (41-Gwangju City Hall) and Cha Soo-yong (43-Daegu Para Sports Association). Joo and Jang advanced to the final with a 3-2 victory, winning the second game 16-14 in a deuce tiebreaker. “We played against an opponent who knew us well and exploited our weaknesses,” said Jang. It was a tough match,” said Jang.
The captain duo’s next goal is the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. “We will aim for gold in both singles and doubles,” said Joo, while Jang said, “We won a bronze medal in singles at this tournament, but we want to do better. I will train to win the doubles title at the Paralympic Games as well as the singles podium.”