Germany’s 18-year-old Kaufmann Gyung-ryung ‘challenging for bronze’ in Korean women’s table tennis

Germany’s 18-year-old prodigy Kaufmann is on alert for South Korea’s women’s table tennis team as it seeks its first Olympic team medal in 16 years.

The South Korean women’s table tennis team, coached by Oh Kwang-heon, will face Germany at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the South Paris Arena in France for the bronze medal in the women’s team event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The Germans eliminated South Korea in the quarterfinals at Tokyo 2021, but this time around, the Koreans are favored on paper.

Germany is ranked fifth in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) team rankings, two spots below South Korea (third).

The highest-ranked German player in the team competition is San Xiaona, who is ranked 40th in singles. She is ranked well below Korea’s top two players, Shin Yoo-bin (Korean Air) at No. 7 and Jeon Jeon-hee (Mirae Asset Securities) at No. 15.

However, Germany’s “18-year-old sensation” Annette Kaufmann is at the peak of her powers.

Kaufmann was originally scheduled to participate in the tournament as a reserve.

But when 41-year-old Chinese defensive ace Han Ying went down with an Achilles tendon injury, Kaufmann was thrust into the starting lineup.

Kaufmann is not only a starter, but also a “singles ace”. Without playing doubles, Kaufmann has been responsible for two singles matches and has been at the forefront of Germany’s victories.

She was responsible for two of the team’s wins in the round of 16 against the United States and the quarterfinals against India.

Against India, she brought back the “one-two punch” of world No. 25 Manika Batra and No. 22 Srija Akula. Kaufmann is ranked 100th.

She was responsible for Germany’s lone victory in the semifinals on August 8, when they lost to Japan 1-3 on match points.

She defeated Japan’s 16-year-old “prodigy” Miwa Harimoto 3-0 (11-9 11-8 11-8).

“At a junior international tournament I recently visited, I noticed a player who played maturely beyond his years, and that was Kaufmann,” said Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korea Table Tennis Association.

Oh, who watched the Germany-Japan match from the sidelines, also recognizes Kaufmann as a threat.

Shin Yoo-bin and Lee Eun-hye (Korean Air), two of the tournament’s top performers, will be up against Kaufmann.

If the “Hangzhou gold medal pair” and “best weapon” Shin Yoo-bin and Jeon Jeon-hee pick up a win in doubles and Jeon takes down Sanshaona, Oh’s “must-win scenario” is for either Shin or Eun-hye to win against Kaufmann to clinch the bronze medal.

A win over Germany would give South Korea its first medal in the event in 16 years, since winning bronze in Beijing in 2008.

They will also finish the Games with a total of two bronze medals in table tennis. It would be their best result since London 2012, when they won one silver (men’s team event).

It is the second Olympic medal for Shin Yubin, who won bronze in mixed doubles with Lim Jong-hoon (Korea Exchange).

The last time Korean table tennis produced a ‘multi-medalist’ at an Olympic Games was in Barcelona in 1992, when Kim Taek-soo (Vice President of the Korea Table Tennis Association) won bronze in the men’s singles and men’s doubles and Hyun Jeong-hwa (Head Coach of the Korea Horse Racing Association) won bronze in the women’s singles and women’s doubles. 바카라사이트