Inter-Korean Clash at Asian Para Games After 12 Years... Table Tennis Player Park Hong-gyu Wins 3-2 Comeback Victory

Park Hong-gyu (53, Chungbuk Sports Council for the Disabled) secured a comeback victory in an inter-Korean table tennis showdown at the Asian Para Games, the first of its kind in 12 years.

Park defeated North Korea's Jon Ju-hyeon (40) 3-2 (6-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7) in the men's singles (sport class 6) preliminary match of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games held today at Sky Hall Toyota in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

This encounter marked the second inter-Korean table tennis match in the history of the Asian Para Games.

The North Korean table tennis national team first participated in the 2014 Incheon Games, where they played their single previous inter-Korean match.

At the 2018 Jakarta Games, the two Koreas competed as a unified team, while North Korea was absent from the 2022 Hangzhou Games due to issues regarding the hoisting of the North Korean flag.

North Korea sent only two athletes to this tournament: Jon Ju-hyeon and Kim Yong-rok.

Jon is a medal contender who won the team event at the 2019 Asian Championships and the singles event at the 2025 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Para Asian Championships.

South Korea's Park is also a veteran who has collected 51 international medals, including a singles gold medal at the 2014 Incheon Games.

The first inter-Korean match 12 years ago was also played between these two athletes.

Park, who won 3-1 in the semifinals back then, has now triumphed in all three of his head-to-head matches against Jon, following the Asian Championships in China last year and this tournament.

On this day, Park lost the first two games after his early defensive strategy failed to work.

However, starting from the third game, he mixed in powerful smashes and claimed three consecutive games.


After the match, Park said with a smile, "I struggled a lot at first. After lagging behind and finally getting the feel for it, I think I was able to play my own game later. It's strange that I always end up facing Jon Ju-hyeon. I'm worried because we know each other's strengths and strategies far too well."

He also expressed regret over not being able to converse freely with Jon.

"Since we know each other, even if I wanted to acknowledge him and act a bit friendly, I couldn't. It's a bit disappointing that we just shook hands and parted ways," he said.

North Korean athletes and coaching staff only left a brief remark saying, "We will do (interviews) after the match (tournament) ends."

Despite his victory on this day, Park could not avoid being eliminated from the preliminary round.

He finished with a record of 1 win and 1 loss, tied with Jon Ju-hyeon and Rungroj Thainiyom (40, Thailand), but fell behind in the game differential ratio.

Park lost 1-3 to Rungroj, while Jon defeated Rungroj 3-2.

"We still have doubles and mixed doubles, so we need to work hard," Park said, pledging to put up a good fight in the remaining matches.

(Photo courtesy of the Korean Paralympic Committee, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.