Hard-Fought Victory Leads Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon to Semifinals, Securing a Medal

South Korean table tennis golden duo Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon have secured at least a bronze medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after defeating their Taiwanese opponents.

World No. 1 Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin defeated Taiwan's world No. 10 pair Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching 3-2 in a full-set thriller during the mixed doubles quarterfinals held on the 25th at Sky Hall Toyota in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

Table tennis events at the Asian Games award bronze medals to both losers of the semifinals without a third-place playoff.

The Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin pair is considered the South Korean table tennis team's strongest gold medal contender at this tournament.

The next opponents for Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin will be China's world No. 6 pair Lin Shidong and Kuai Man.

Although Lim and Shin trail 1 win to 3 losses in their head-to-head record against Lin and Kuai, they won 3-1 in their most recent encounter during the semifinals of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Hong Kong Finals in December 2025.

At that time, Lin Shidong and Kuai Man were ranked world No. 1, while Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin were ranked No. 2.

Building on the momentum of that victory, Lim and Shin went on to defeat China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha—who were then world No. 3 and singles powerhouses—in the final to claim the championship title.

Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, currently ranked world No. 2, have also advanced to the semifinals on the opposite side of the draw.

Although Lim and Shin previously held a 2-win, 1-loss advantage against Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching, the match at the Asian Games was far from easy.

The match was characterized by a recurring pattern where Lim and Shin would pull ahead, only for Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching to chase them down.

Even in the final fifth set, Lim's aggressive attacks successfully landed on the table to give them a 5-2 lead, but unforced errors allowed their opponents to catch up and force a 10-10 deuce.

The concentration of the world No. 1 duo shone brightest at the very end.

While Lim and Shin maintained their composure through continuous rallies, Cheng and Lin hit consecutive shots into the net. Claiming a 12-10 victory in the final set, Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon raised both hands in celebration of their advancement to the semifinals.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.