![Kim Young-geon advances to finals in men’s table tennis individual event… secures silver medal [패럴림픽]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/09/07/126901266.2.jpg "Kim Young-geon advances to finals in men’s table tennis individual event… secures silver medal [패럴림픽]")
Kim Young-geon (40, Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall), a member of the table tennis team, is aiming for the last gold medal in table tennis at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. Kim Jeong-gil (38, Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall) unfortunately lost in the semifinals.
Kim Young-geon defeated Nigeria’s Isau Ogunkunle (38) 3-1 (9-11 11-5 11-4 13-11) in the semifinals of the men’s singles (MS4) table tennis tournament held at the South Paris Arena 4 in Paris, France on the 7th (local time) and advanced to the finals.
Kim Young-geon is a veteran who has competed in the Paralympics several times in his 24th year as a national representative. He won gold medals in singles in Athens 2004 and London 2012. He unfortunately won a silver medal in Tokyo 2020, and this time he has the opportunity to vent his frustration.
After the match, Kim Young-geon said, “I feel great to be able to advance to the finals on such a big stage as the Paralympics. I will definitely win the finals and get the gold medal.”
He continued, “There is one match left. It would have been nice if (Kim) Jeong-gil had gone up with me, but that part is too bad. I wanted to go after securing the gold medal for our country, but it didn’t go as planned.”
On this day, he lost the first set due to his opponent’s difficult serve and strong attack, but from the second set onwards, he played with a play that adjusted its strengths and weaknesses, and won the 2nd to 4th sets.
Kim Young-geon’s final opponent is Thailand’s Chayut Wanchai (35), ranked No. 1 in the world. Chayut defeated Kim Jeong-gil 3-2 (11-8 5-11 11-4 9-11 11-9) in the semifinals held at the same time. For Kim Young-geon, the final is a revenge match against Kim Jeong-gil, with whom he had played doubles.
Kim Young-geon said, “The Thai player also changed the lava very uniquely, so it was difficult to play against him in the past, but he won recently. So I think we can definitely win,” and “I will prepare diligently, not miss the chance ball, and attack the course accurately.”
The final match of Kim Young-geon, the last table tennis gold medalist of the tournament, will be held on the 8th.
Meanwhile, Kim Jeong-gil unfortunately stopped at the threshold of the finals and ended up with a bronze medal.
Kim Jung-gil said, “It’s such a shame. We could have won at the end, but we made a mistake. We predicted where it would come from and it came just like that. We tried to be a little more daring, but we made a mistake. But it’s okay. We ran according to plan. It’s a shame that we made a small mistake.”
Although he did not win a medal in doubles, he returned with a bronze medal in singles.
He said with a smile, “I prepared a lot and competed against various typical players. I played well even against strong players. Now that the competition is over, I feel relieved.”
(Paris=Joint Reporting Group)
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2024-09-08 16:07:35