Women’s
table tennis Korean Air captain Lee Eun-hye (28) enjoyed the excitement of the Taegeuk mark again after twists and turns. Due to a series of bad luck, she was able to shake off her regrets of not being able to participate in international competitions and stand on the stage of her dream of the Asian Games.
Lee Eun-hye took first place in the women’s division at the ‘2023 PyeongChang Asian Championships and Hangzhou Asian Games Dispatched National Team 2nd Qualifying Tournament’, which ended on the 4th at the Dangjin Indoor Gymnasium in Chungcheongnam-do. In which she competed with 7 players, she had a record of 5 wins and 1 loss in the full league in the 2nd round of selections.
Already, Lee Eun-hye grabbed her ticket to Hangzhou, which was given to three people early this morning. She defeated Yang Ha-eun (29, Posco International토토사이트) 3-1 and secured at least 3rd place with 4 consecutive wins. Afterwards, she lost 1 to Kim Na-young (18, Posco International), but easily confirmed the 1st place.
Lee Eun-hye, Seo Hyo-won (36, Korean Racing Association), who placed second and third in the second selection, and Yang Ha-eun, will go to the Asian Championships and Asian Games with the Taegeuk mark. Seo Hyo-won and Yang Ha-eun won 4 wins and 2 losses side by side, but the rankings were divided according to the winner-to-win principle. In the first round of selection, which ended on the 31st of last month, Shin Yu-bin (19, Korean Air) and Jeon Ji-hee (31, Mirae Asset Securities) came in first and second, and booked a flight to Hangzhou first.
It is the first national team selection in three years since 2020. In particular, the results obtained by brushing off her painful memories of not being able to wear the Taegeuk mark due to overlapping injuries and bad luck were more valuable.
Lee Eun-hye played an active role as a national representative in the world qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and contributed to Korea’s Olympic finals. However, in the aftermath of her injury in 2021, when the Olympics were held, she dropped out of the national team selections. In her tryouts last year, she was tied to the number of naturalized players and she was forced to give up her Taegeuk mark to her teammate Ha-Young Kim. Eunhye Lee was born in Inner Mongolia and comes from a minority Chinese background. She was naturalized in 2011.
However, Lee Eun-hye is not discouraged, and she confidently put her Taegeuk mark in the national team selection this year with her skills. For the first time in her life, she will compete in the Asian Championships and Asian Games.
After confirming her trip to Hangzhou, Lee Eun-hye smiled broadly, saying, “I was worried about my body, but I overcame it with a strong heart and achieved my goal, so it’s great.” She continued, “I thank God and the many people who supported me,” expressing her gratitude.
The two years after 2020, which were short but full of stories, turned into medicine. Lee Eun-hye said, “She only became a national representative in 2020, but all international competitions were canceled due to Corona 19 and she had to give up her Taegeuk mark to Kim Ha-young. I looked back. She continued, “Still, I don’t think I’ve matured technically and psychologically over the past 2-3 years, and in that respect, it seems to have been a good time,” she revealed her heart.
She did the same in this contest. Although she had some downsides in the 1st round, she built on this and achieved her goal in the 2nd round. Lee Eun-hye said, “I had a chance to come in first and second place in the first selection round, but I missed both Yoon Hyo-bin (Mirae Asset Securities) and Jeon Ji-hee in the game,” she said, “I thought it was important, but my heart was in a hurry and I wasn’t ready psychologically.” . She continued, “She thought it would be difficult against Yang Ha-eun, who had good concentration and a lot of experience in the second round of selection, but she recalled her old memories and said, ‘Let’s focus comfortably’, so she received more strength.”
It is also the first big stage of her life, the Asian Games, but she has another reason for Lee Eun-hye to go to Hangzhou this time. It is because her family and her 5-year reunion are waiting. Lee Eun-hye said, “Her parents and two older sisters are in China (Habei Province), but we haven’t seen each other for five years because of Corona 19.”
Initially, Lee Eun-hye informed her family about the first round of selections, which she had hoped for, but with disappointing results. “Her father was worried, but she seemed a bit disappointed,” she said. “She wants to win her medal at the Asian Games and give it to her as a gift,” she said with a smile.