North Korea has clinched its first Olympic medal in eight years, thanks to its mysterious mixed doubles table tennis team, which triumphed over Hong Kong and is now set to face off against the powerful China in the finals. China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha also secured their place in the final after a challenging match against the third-seeded Korean pair of Lim Jonghoon and Shin Yubin. Lim and Shin won the initial set but lost the next two sets, each ending 11-9, resulting in a final score of 4-2 in favor of Wang and Sun. To win gold, China must now best the North Korean duo of Kim Kum Yong and Ri Jong Sik, who have seldom participated in international competitions prior to the Paris Olympics. Kim and Ri, both in their early twenties and making their Olympic debut, overcame Hong Kong's tough team in a lengthy 4-3 match that exceeded an hour. Even China's top team faces an uncertain victory.
"Tomorrow will be our toughest battle yet. We haven't faced the North Korean team before, so we'll focus on improving our coordination," Sun remarked. Earlier on Monday, China's second-seeded Fan Zhendong and defending champion Chen Meng easily defeated their opponents 4-0 in the men's singles first round at the Paris Olympics. Fan defeated Ukraine's Yaroslav Zhmudenko, while Chen overcame Algeria's Lynda Loghraibi to advance to the round of 32. Fan, who hinted on Weibo that Paris might be his final Olympic appearance, had previously lost to Ma Long 4-2 in the Tokyo final without spectators due to Covid-19.
"The main difference in this match is the crowd's energy. I scouted the venue yesterday and honestly, I wasn't expecting this. It's quite motivating when I play," Fan commented. Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto, a significant threat to the Chinese, defeated Belgium's Martin Allegro 4-0, recovering from an unexpected elimination by North Korea in the mixed doubles first round. Senegal's Ibrahima Diaw, who has a Senegalese father and grew up in Paris, and Hong Kong's Wong Chun-ting engaged in an exhilarating hour-long match, with Wong ultimately winning 4-3 after a particularly intense second set that ended 18-16. In another intense encounter, Poland's Natalia Bajor also prevailed over Thailand's Suthasini Sawettabut 4-3 in a similarly drawn-out match.
