The South Korean women’s table tennis team will face the ‘Great Wall of China’ in the quarterfinals of the team event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The South Korean women’s table tennis team, comprised of Shin Yoo-bin, Lee Eun-hye (Korean Air), and Jeon Jeon-hee (Mirae Asset Securities), will face China at the South Paris Arena in Paris, France, at 10 p.m. KST on Aug. 8 for a spot in the final.

South Korea reached the quarterfinals of the Olympic team competition for the first time in 12 years after the 2012 London Games with a 3-0 quarterfinal victory over Sweden on Saturday.

The South Koreans, who finished fourth in 2012, will be looking to break into the medal hunt for the first time in 16 years after winning bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Their opponents, China, are the reigning world champions.

The Chinese cruised to a 3-0 victory in their quarterfinal match against Chinese Taipei on Sunday, led by the likes of Chen Hsiao-hung and Sun Ying-sa, who have won gold and silver in singles at the tournament.

While the Chinese are favored on paper, they could pull off an upset if the gold medal-winning doubles pairing of Shin Yubin and Jeon Jeon-hee from last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, can pull off the upset.

China dominated the Olympic men’s and women’s team gold medals from Beijing 2008 to Tokyo 2021.

In taekwondo, Kim Yoo-jin (Ulsan Sports Federation) will try to win a medal in the women’s 57-kilogram category.

Kim, ranked 12th in the world, will face world No. 5 Hatizeh Ilgun (Turkiye) in the round of 16.

In weightlifting, Park Joo-hyo (Goyang City Hall) will be the first Korean athlete to compete in the men’s 73kg category.

Park will be looking to build on the momentum he gained after qualifying for the Games two years ago following spinal surgery that resulted in a Class 5 disability.

“All five of our athletes competing in Paris have the quality to contend for a medal,” said national team general manager Lee Jong-sung, “and if we don’t make any mistakes on competition day, we will be in the medal hunt.”

Uharam, who will compete in the men’s 3-meter springboard final, is another medal favorite.

The modern pentathlon, which is considered a gold medal favorite, will be contested in five events, starting with the fencing ranking round. 홀짝게임