Jang captures three titles at Korea Open

Jang Woo-jin of the People’s Republic of Korea’s (or South Korea) won the men’s singles and doubles titles at the Korea Open in Daejeon yesterday, the first player in the history of the ITTF World Tour event to secure three golds in the same tournament

The previous day he had won the mixed doubles by pairing with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Cha Hyo Sim.

Yesterday he partnered Lim Jong-hoon to success in the men’s doubles. The No. 6 seeds beat the top seeds Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting of China’s Hong Kong 11-8, 19-17, 9-11, 11-9.

Jang closed the curtain by overcoming China’s Liang Jinkun 11-8, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 in the men’s singles final.

“This is beyond my expectations. I’m very happy. This would have been impossible without support from fans,” he said.

Liang said his strategy had been faulty but acknowledged that Jang had “played very well”.

China’s Zhu Yuling beat compatriot Chen Meng in five games 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 to win the women’s singles title.

But Chen had some consolation as she teamed up with Ding Ning to capture the women’s doubles title by beating compatriots Wang Manyu and Zhu 14-12, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11.

The event featured four unified teams from the PRK and the DPRK — in the men’s and women’s doubles and two mixed doubles teams. The unified Korea team won the mixed doubles and took a bronze in the men’s doubles.