South Korea's table tennis teams both claim bronze after losses to Japan

Both men's and women's sides fall short of final, receive bronze without a third-place match

South Korea head coach Seok Eun-mi and players encourage one another after losing 0-3 to Japan in the women's team table tennis semifinal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Sky Hall Toyota in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

South Korea's men's and women's table tennis teams both settled for bronze medals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after falling to Japan in the team event semifinals.

The men's team was swept 0-3 by Japan in the men's team semifinal at Sky Hall Toyota in Aichi Prefecture on Wednesday. In the first match, Jang Woo-jin of Sea A lost to Matsushima Sora 1-3 (9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 8-11).

Ahn Jae-hyun put up a fight against Japanese ace Harimoto Tomokazu in the second match but fell 0-3 (10-12, 5-11, 9-11). Oh Jun-sung pushed Togami Shunsuke to five games in the third match before losing 2-3 (11-7, 6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 9-11), sealing the defeat.

South Korea coach Yoon Jae-young and players console each other after their loss to Japan in the men's team table tennis semifinal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Sky Hall Toyota in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

In the women's team semifinal that followed, South Korea also lost 0-3 to Japan and failed to advance to the final. Shin Yu-bin, who led off in the first singles match, could not overcome Hayata Hina and lost 0-3 (6-11, 7-11, 4-11).

Joo Cheon-hui dropped the second match to Harimoto Miwa 0-3 (7-11, 8-11, 9-11), and Kim Na-young lost the third and final match to Nagasaki Miyu 0-3 (8-11, 9-11, 7-11), handing Japan the berth in the final.

Under Asian Games rules, no third-place match is held, so both teams concluded their team event campaigns with bronze medals.

addressh@heraldcorp.com