The youngest child, ‘Bpiyak’, who was loved at the Tokyo Olympics, has now grown into a full-fledged ace and is challenging for the gold medal at the Asian Games. This is the story of Shin Yu-bin (Korean Air), the star of Korean women’s table tennis.
Shin Yu-bin had a strong ‘prodigy’ image for a long time. When she was young, she appeared as a genius girl who loved table tennis in TV entertainment shows ‘Star King’ and ‘Infinite Challenge’, and she left a strong impression as a child who loved table tennis.
In January 2020, she stepped up from a child to a promising player in the Tokyo Olympics team preliminaries, contributing greatly to Korea’s ticket to the Olympics. Although she did not win a medal, she rose to stardom in the finals thanks to her confident game management and witty interviews, establishing her as an expected player in Korean table tennis.
Now, two years have passed, and now Shin Yu-bin is neither a prodigy nor a prospect, but the most anticipated sign of the Korean table tennis team.
The process by which he participated in this Asian Games was dramatic.
Shin Yu-bin suffered a wrist stress fracture and collapsed at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships. He immediately began rehabilitation, but the same area recurred and he ended up having to operate. It was a difficult time, as I had to give up the national team selection for the Asian Games.스포츠토토
However, as the Asian Games were postponed for a year due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), Shin Yu-bin also had an opportunity. And he didn’t miss the opportunity.
Shin Yu-bin, who had been away from the table tennis table for nearly a year, focused on building up her game muscles through lower body training and came back stronger and more mature than before she got injured. He overcame the arduous rehabilitation with a strong will to the point where he said, “Even when I was resting, I always thought about table tennis.”
Experts say that Shin Yu-bin’s agility and ability to deal with situations have noticeably improved compared to before.
The ‘upgraded’ Shin Yu-bin is a strong candidate for a medal.
At the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban last May, Shin Yu-bin advanced to the finals for the first time in 36 years and won a silver medal in the women’s doubles with ‘youngster duo’ Jeon Ji-hee (Mirae Asset Securities).
She then experienced a ‘taste of the top’ in succession, sweeping the women’s singles and doubles at WTT Contender Lagos in June and Contender Zagreb in August. Her confidence and spirit are through the roof.
At this Asian Games, Shin Yu-bin will compete in all the events she can participate in, including women’s singles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles, and women’s team competition. Women’s doubles is ranked No. 1 in the world, and Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange) and Na Na in mixed doubles are also ranked No. 3 and are all approaching a medal. In particular, her combination with Jeon Ji-hee in women’s doubles is evaluated as the strongest Korean table tennis team of all time.
Shin Yu-bin’s biggest enemy is China, the strongest table tennis team and her home team, but Shin Yu-bin is full of confidence.
Shin Yu-bin said, “Recently, I participated in many competitions and had a lot of contact with China, and I also learned a lot. If I make up for what I was lacking, there will be good results against China as well.”
Regarding the Asian Games, which she experienced for the first time, she said, “I want to achieve the best results in all events. As it was difficult for me to participate (in the Asian Games), I will play without regrets.”