Jang Woo-jin (28, Mirae Asset Securities, 18th in the world), ‘the pride of Korea’s men’s table tennis’, lifted the runner-up trophy at the singles in the first major international competition of the new year.

In the World Table Tennis (WTT) men’s singles final held at Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar on the afternoon of the 21st, Jang Woo-jin won a game score of 1:4 (10-12) after a bloody battle with ‘Brazilian top ranker’ Hugo Calderado (27, world No. 8). , 13-11, 3-11, 12-14, 7-11).

In the semi-finals, Jang Woo-jin defeated China’s Lin Shi-dong (17, 40th in the world), known as the “next-generation Pan Zhen-dong,” 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-7) and reached the final that day.

As the record of 5 wins and 5 losses on the international stage tells us, it was a bloody struggle from start to finish. Jang Woo-jin, who turned top ranked Caldera 3-0 in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics team match against Brazil, stood up confidently.

In the first game, Jang Woo-jin played a dominant game, but gave it up 10-12 after a deuce match. The two games were also closely contested, 4-4 and 5-5. They allowed Calderado’s backhand attacks one after another and gave them game points, but they relentlessly pursued them. 10-10, the deuce game started again. After a fierce rally, Jang Woo-jin brought the second game to 13-11 and returned the game to the starting point. However, after the 3rd game, Jang Woo-jin was shaken. Calderano took a 6-0 lead before dropping three games to 3-11. It was pushed back to 3-7 in 4 games, but Jang Woo-jin’s forehand and backhand attacks followed one after another and chased it to 5-7, creating another deuce game. 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, 12-14 at the end of a bloody battle, giving up 4 games. 메이저사이트

Jang Woo-jin, who was driven to the edge of five games with a game score of 3-1, took a 4-2 lead and started a counterattack, but Brazil’s top ranked Calderado was not strong enough. He conceded a match point with 7-11 and secured the runner-up.

After the game, Jang Woo-jin said, “I had a good experience by going up to the singles final in the first tournament of the year,” and said, “It seems like I played a good game by overcoming the obstacles in an international competition after a long time.” He said, “I will do better analysis of top rankers in the future. I will set a higher goal and challenge myself.”

Although he lost, Jang Woo-jin showed his unwavering presence by standing proudly on the stage of the men’s singles final at the first WTT major tournament of the new year. In the year of the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, his first button was well put into place.