South Korea's table tennis team will face world No. 1 China in the semifinals of the 2025 ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, dimming hopes for a third consecutive runner-up finish.
Korea finished the second stage with four wins and three losses (11 points) on Monday in Chengdu, China, setting up a semifinal clash with China, which secured first place with an unbeaten eight-match winning streak (16 points). Japan and Germany are expected to finish second and third.
In their final second-stage match, Korea defeated Croatia 8-5 after losing to Germany 7-8. The Korean squad featured Jang Woo-jin, Park Kang-hyun (Mirae Asset Securities), An Jae-hyun, and Oh Jun-sung (Korea Exchange) on the men's side, with Lee Eun-hye (Korean Air), Kim Na-young (POSCO International), and Choi Hyo-joo (Korea Racing Authority) representing the women.
Korea suffered a 0-8 shutout loss to China in their earlier second-stage match. The tournament format has eight teams competing in a round-robin, with the top four advancing to a knockout semifinal stage. First place faces fourth, and second faces third for berths in the final. Matches are decided by the first team to reach eight game points, with winners receiving two standings points and losers one.
Korea has finished runner-up in both previous editions of the tournament since its inception two years ago. However, the team slipped to fourth place, forcing a semifinal matchup against China rather than avoiding the powerhouse.
Against Croatia, Korea opened with the mixed doubles pair of Park Kang-hyun and Kim Na-young defeating Hana Ivor Ban and Hana Arapovic 2-1 (11-5, 11-9, 12-14). Lee Eun-hye then lost her women's singles match to Lea Rakovac 1-2 (9-11, 8-11, 11-8), leveling the game score at 3-3. Jang Woo-jin also fell to Tomislav Pucar 1-2 (8-11, 11-7, 10-12), putting Korea behind 4-5.
The women's doubles pair of Kim Na-young and Choi Hyo-joo turned the match around with a 3-0 sweep (11-8, 11-3, 11-6) over Rakovac and Mateja Jeger, giving Korea a 7-5 lead.
Park Kang-hyun and Oh Jun-sung sealed the 8-5 victory in men's doubles, beating Ban and Frane Kojic 1-0 (11-9) to clinch the eighth game point.
Kim Na-young led the way with victories in both mixed doubles and women's doubles, while Park Kang-hyun contributed wins in mixed doubles and men's doubles.
