TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's table tennis team faced a setback on Monday (Dec. 1) in Chengdu (成都), China, during the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF, 國際桌球總會桌球) preliminaries. They lost to South Korea with a score of 6-8, marking their first defeat in the tournament. The competition features 16 nations, with Taiwan grouped alongside South Korea, the United States, and Sweden.
The first stage of the preliminaries included mixed doubles, women's singles, men's singles, women's doubles, and men's doubles, with the first team to win eight games claiming victory. Taiwan's Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) and Cheng I-Ching (鄭怡靜) started strong in mixed doubles, defeating South Korea's Park Kang Hyun (朴康賢) and Kim Nayoung (金娜英) with scores of 12-10, 11-9, 11-9, giving Taiwan an early lead.
However, Taiwan's Li Yu-jhun (李昱諄) in women's singles, Lin Yen-chun (林彥均) in men's singles, and the women's doubles team of Li Yu-jhun and Huang Yu-chiao (黃禹喬) faced losses, each falling 1-2 in games. After four matches, the teams were tied at 6-6. In the decisive men's doubles match, Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui (高承睿) fell to Park Kang Hyun and Oh Jun-sung (吳晙誠) with a score of 6-8.
Taiwan will face Sweden on Tuesday (Dec. 2) at 5 p.m. Both teams currently have one win and one loss, each with three points. Taiwan has won 14 games and lost 11, while Sweden has won 11 and lost 8. This match could determine whether the team advances to the next stage.