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Table Tennis Yun Ji-yu, Loses in a Close 5-Set Deuce Battle Regrettable Silver Medal
Table tennis player Ji-yu Yoon (24, Seongnam City Hall) unfortunately won a silver medal after a close match in the 5th set deuce in the singles final at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
In the final of the Paris Paralympic Table Tennis Women's Singles (Sports Class WS3) held at Arena 4 in South Paris, France on the 7th (Korean time), Ji-Yoo Yoon lost to Andela Mujinic Vincentic (32, Croatia) with a set score of 2-3 (7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-13) after a close full set match lasting 55 minutes.
Although Yun Ji-yu is a 'young veteran' who has competed in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, this was her first time competing in the individual singles final.
Although she is known for her calm and composed personality, Yoon Ji-yu's face showed signs of tension in the stadium filled with 5,000 spectators.
His body was stiff and he kept making mistakes as if he was flustered by his opponent's sharp attacks.
Ji-Yu Yun, who was on the verge of becoming the world's best, ended up missing out on the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, which will be held in four years, by a margin of 'one point'.
On this day, Yun Ji-yu had good luck with the draw. Her 'rival' Xue Zhuan (35, China) lost to Vincentic in the semifinals.
However, Yun Ji-yu was pushed back by Vincentic's momentum early in the match, to the point where she lost the first set of the final in just 7 minutes.
Vincentic was desperate to receive a short serve, and Yoon Ji-yu's smash, taking advantage of her opponent's opening, went over the table.
From the second set onwards, Yoon Ji-yu seemed to have relaxed, but it was regrettable that she only had one shot.
From a 5-5 situation, there were repeated comebacks and reversals, but at an 8-8 situation, Yoon Ji-yu made consecutive mistakes and ended up losing the second set.
However, starting from the third set, Yun Ji-yu's sharp serve and concentration came alive.
In both the 3rd and 4th sets, they took the sets after a close match that went to 'deuce'.
The fifth set was also fierce. There were two deuces. However, Yoon Ji-yu failed to overcome the last hurdle and lost.
They allowed a comeback when they were down 10-9.
After losing the match, Yoon Ji-yu looked into the air and sighed.
Ji-Yu Yoon, who was paralyzed from the waist down when she was three, started playing professionally when she was twelve and began her career in earnest in 2014.
Two years after starting his career as an athlete, he became the youngest member of the Korean national team at the 2016 Rio Games and won a bronze medal in the team event. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, where he was also the youngest member of the national team, he won a silver medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the singles.
Ji-Yu Yun, who failed to win a gold medal in two Paralympics, aimed to become the world's best by participating in three events at this competition.
However, in the women's doubles held earlier, she teamed up with Seo Su-yeon (38, Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall) and advanced to the finals, but lost 1-3 to China's Liu Jing (36) and Xie Juan, missing out on the gold medal.
In the mixed doubles, where he teamed up with Kim Jeong-gil (38, Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall), he was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
When I met Yoon Ji-yu after the game, her face was filled with regret.
He said, "It's very unfortunate. I followed along well, but I couldn't handle it when I was winning in the deuce."
Yoon Ji-yu, who was able to keep up well from a set score of 0-2 to 2-2, said, "I thought about just taking it one set at a time."
Yoon Ji-yu repeated the word "it's a shame" several times.