(Asiad) S. Korean pair takes mixed doubles bronze in table tennis

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin grabbed their second straight Asian Games bronze medal together in the mixed doubles table tennis event on Friday in Japan after falling to their Chinese rivals in the semifinals.

Lim and Shin, world No. 1 in the mixed doubles, lost to Lin Shidong and Kuai Man of China 4-2 (9-11, 11-8 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-3) in the semifinals at Sky Hall Toyota in Toyota, some 25 kilometers east of the main host city, Nagoya.

With no bronze medal matches in table tennis, all losers of the semifinals are awarded bronze medals.

This was the third bronze medal for South Korea at this year's Asiad, following the ones in the men's and women's team events.

Lim and Shin fell to 1-4 against Lin and Kuai. That lone victory came in December 2025, when the South Koreans beat the Chinese team, then world No. 1, in the semifinals of the World Table Tennis Hong Kong Finals.

Lim and Shin then went on to take down another Chinese tandem, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, in the final of that competition.

The South Korean team had harbored hopes of reaching the final against Wang and Sun, who were on the opposite side of the bracket, and having a chance to avenge their loss to the Chinese duo in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Games.

However, Lim and Shin could not get past Lin and Kuai.

With the match knotted at two games apiece, South Korea held a 10-9 lead in Game 5, but then conceded three straight points to go down 3-2 in the game score.

The Chinese team then handily won the deciding Game 6 by 11-3.