Lee Sang-soo, the eldest member of the South Korean national table tennis team (World No. 33), advanced to the third round of the men’s singles competition at the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships with a straight-sets victory over India’s Paik Jeon in a ‘veterans’ match.

Lee Sang-soo (33) defeated India’s Sharat Kamal Achanta (56) 4-0 (11-4 13-11 11-8 12-10) in the Men’s Singles Round of 64 at the 2023 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Championships at the Durban International Convention Center (DICC) in Durban, South Africa, on Sunday (Feb. 22).

Lee, born in 1982, holds a 4-1 head-to-head (men’s singles) advantage over the 41-year-old, but the Korean has struggled in international competition. At the 2021 Asian Championships, Lee pulled off a thrilling come-from-behind victory, and at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, Lee lost a full-game match in the mixed doubles with Jeon Jeon-hee.

After taking the first game 10-4, Lee was down 1-6 early in the second game. However, a series of strong drives, sharp backhands, and an unforced error from her opponent helped her fight back to 9-8. After hitting a strong drive to the left that was deflected by the defense, he slammed the ball back into the right corner, leaving his opponent helpless.토토사이트

His opponent didn’t let that stop him and made it 11-11 deuce, but Lee Sang-soo’s strong concentration in the second game eventually took the game. Game 3 was a close affair, but Lee won it by a single point. In the fourth game, he was ahead 8-9, but after a deuce, he closed out the match 12-10.

“I prepared more thoroughly against the Indian player because we know each other well,” said Lee after the match, “and I think I showed my preparation well, which led to the 4-0 score.”

“My opponent came out aggressively in the first game and I panicked,” he said, adding, “I thought he was going to change his style and play the same game again, so I just tried to stick to what I was doing, and I think I got it right at the end.” “Toward the end, I made a change to be a little more aggressive and I think it worked for me in the important points,” he added.