South Korea's table tennis team posts worst-ever Asian Games result, fails to win a single silver

South Korea's table tennis team failed to win a single silver medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games — the worst result for the sport since it was introduced as an official event at the 1958 Tokyo Games.

In the individual events held Saturday at Sky Hall Toyota in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, every South Korean competitor was eliminated before the semifinals.

Ace player Shin Yu-bin of Korean Air fell 0-4 to China's Wang Manyu in the women's singles quarterfinals. Having competed in the team event and mixed doubles in quick succession, Shin appeared to be running low on energy and could not perform at her best. Ju Cheon-hee of Samsung Life also fought hard against world No. 1 Sun Yingsha of China but lost 2-4, ending her semifinal run.

In men's singles, Jang Woo-jin of Seah was swept 0-4 by Taiwan's Feng Yi-hsin in the round of 16. South Korea was left without a single semifinalist across all individual disciplines.

The doubles pairs fared no better. The women's doubles team of Shin Yu-bin and Ju Cheon-hee lost 2-3 to Thailand's Suthasini Sawettabut and Orawan Paranang in the quarterfinals after squandering a lead. The men's doubles pair of Oh Jun-seong and Lim Jong-hun, both of Korea Exchange, also fell 1-3 to Japan's Matsushima Sora and Togami Shunsuke.

South Korea finished the Games with just three bronze medals — one each in the men's team event, women's team event and mixed doubles.