China-South Korea doubles team makes history at table tennis World Championships
Xu Xin and Yang Ha-eun first cross-border team to win for 60 years
China coach Liu Guoliang said victory for his mixed-nations doubles team at the World Championships was an important boost for the development of the game.
China’s Xu Xin and Yang Ha-eun of South Korea teamed up to become the first cross-border partnership to win the world mixed doubles table tennis championship for 61 years.
The pair beat Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa and Maharu Yoshimura 4-0 at the world championships on Friday, becoming the first mixed nationality winners of the title since Czechoslovakia’s Ivan Andreadis and Hungarian Gizella Gervai at Wembley in 1954.
“It’s always important to let the players enjoy the success and the fans cheer for their success,” said Liu. “South Korea have not won a World Championships gold medal for a long time and the result would certainly give them a boost, not only the players, the fans but also their governing body.
“Yang played very well throughout the competition and I am sure she has also learned a lot from the tournament.”
