Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon end Korea's 12-year Olympic medal drought

Korean table tennis players Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon secured a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, ending Korea’s 12-year medal drought.

Korean table tennis players Shin Yu-bin, right, and Lim Jong-hoon celebrate after a victory over Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong in the mixed doubles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris. [NEWS1]

Korean table tennis players Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon won bronze at the Paris Olympics Tuesday, beating Hong Kong's Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem 4-0 in the mixed doubles bronze-medal match to each claim their first Olympic medal and end Korea’s 12-year Olympic medal drought in the sport.

Shin and Lim were off to a smooth start at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris, winning the first game 11-5 and second game 11-7. The duo denied Hong Kong a comeback in the third game, winning it 11-7 again.

A mixed team table tennis match runs in a best-of-seven format, and the first side to score 11 points by a margin of two clear points wins each game. When the score is tied at 10-10, the team to score two straight points wins the game.

The fourth game was neck-and-neck, with Hong Kong tying the score 10-10 for the first time, but Korea ended the Hong Kong duo’s hopes by winning it 14-12 for a final score of 4-0.

A bronze medal by Shin and Lim is Korea’s first Olympic medal in table tennis at the Games since a silver from the men’s team event at the 2012 London Olympics by Joo Se-hyuk, Oh Sang-eun and Ryu Seung-min.

The bronze is also the country’s first medal in the mixed doubles event, first introduced in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Shin completes a quest to medal at every major competition with Tuesday’s bronze, having previously medaled at the Asian Games and World Championships.

As for Lim, the medal grants him military exemption. Korean male athletes can earn exemption from an 18-month mandatory military service by securing a bronze medal or higher finish at the Olympics.

Shin was still to compete in elimination rounds in the women's singles tournament Wednesday as of press time.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]