Shin Yu-bin, the face of Korean women's table tennis, defeated Japan's Hashimoto Honoka in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2026 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup.
World No. 12 Shin defeated Hashimoto (world No. 11) 3-2 (11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7) in the women's singles round of 16 held in Haikou, China, on Wednesday. With her quarterfinal berth secured, Shin will face the winner of the match between Wang Manyu (No. 2) and Wang Yidi (No. 6), both of China, for a spot in the semifinals.
In the preliminary round of the tournament, Shin lost 2-3 to Japan's Hayata Hina (No. 10), advancing to the round of 16 as the second-place finisher in her group. However, she claimed victory in this second Korea-Japan matchup. After taking the first game 11-6, Shin lost the second and third games amid Hashimoto's counterattack. In the fourth game, she mounted a strong forehand drive offensive to win 11-7, forcing a decisive fifth game, which she also won by the same score to seal her quarterfinal advancement.
Kim Na-young (No. 25, POSCO International), who had also reached the round of 16, suffered a comeback loss to world No. 1 Sun Yingsha of China, falling 1-3 (11-7, 2-11, 8-11, 8-11). Kim took the first game 11-7 to build momentum but easily surrendered the second game 2-11 before losing the third and fourth games to exit in the round of 16.