Ahn Jae-hyeon (23, Korea Exchange) reached the top of the individual singles category at the 69th National Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis Championships.

Ahn Jae-hyeon defeated Gwak Yu-bin (22) of the Armed Forces Sports Corps 3-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7) in the men’s general individual singles final held at Park Chung-hee Gymnasium in Gumi on the 12th. Continuing the momentum of defeating defending champion Cho Dae-seong (Samsung Life Insurance) in the quarterfinals held the previous day and Ki-Hoon Lee (Korean Racing Association) in the subsequent semifinals, he demonstrated his unique ‘presence’ once again. Runner-up Kwak Yu-bin also created a sensation by defeating numerous strong players and advancing to the finals, but Ahn Jae-hyun’s wall was high.

Ahn Jae-hyun is currently a key player in the men’s table tennis team. Since her school days, she has been steadily building her career on the international stage, going through all age groups. In particular, she performed a surprise performance in the men’s singles semifinals at the 2019 Budapest World Table Tennis Championships, won the 2021 Asian Table Tennis Championships in the Korean men’s team team event, and contributed greatly to the semifinals at the 2022 Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships.

Despite her performance on the international stage, Ahn Jae-hyun had no significant relationship with winning the individual competition at the domestic competition stage. Until this tournament, the gold medal at the 100th National Sports Festival in 2019 was the only individual victory in unemployment, and it stayed in the quarterfinals or semifinals in each competition. For Ahn Jae-hyun, who is facing important international competitions such as the Durban World Table Tennis Championships in May, the PyeongChang Asian Championships in September, and the Hangzhou Asian Games, the victory in each category is expected to be a driving force that will boost her self-esteem. 안전놀이터

Ahn Jae-hyun is a founding member of the Korea Exchange, which was officially launched in November last year. Ahn Jae-hyun’s win in each category also has the meaning of being the first winning gift given to his new team, the Korea Exchange.

However, Ahn Jae-hyun’s winning interview was not very bright. Ahn Jae-hyun, who also participated in the doubles final held right after the singles final, played hard with his senior teammate Seo Joong-won, but lost 2-3 (8-11, 11-5, 11-13, 11-8, 6) to Park Kang-hyun and Park Jeong-woo (Korea Water Resources Corporation). -11) and stayed in the runner-up. The Korea Exchange also stayed in the quarterfinals in the team event of this tournament. They lost to Mirae Asset Securities in the quarterfinals.

Ahn Jae-hyun expressed his feelings, saying, “It is meaningful that it is his first championship, but it is regrettable that the team performance was not good.” He continued, “I could have produced better results with doubles, but I lost my strength at the end. It is true that all the players are tired as there have been so many matches recently. During the process, this competition was a battle to see who could maintain more concentration. We will work hard so that the Korea Exchange, which is getting stronger, can achieve good results in team matches.”

In addition, Ahn Jae-hyun said, “Three older brothers with high rankings were missing due to participating in the WTT. I’m happy, but I don’t want to be satisfied with winning the singles.” In fact, Ahn Jae-hyun’s gaze, which is highly recognized on the international stage, does not stay in Korea. The world convention will be held in Durban next month. It is a more important stage than anyone else for Ahn Jae-hyun, who became a ‘rising star’ in the 2019 World Championship semifinals. Ahn Jae-hyun said, “I didn’t have as much time left as I thought. I need to go back and rest for a bit and train again. National and international competitions are different. There is a difference in writing technique and sense. Even after the world convention, important international conventions continue. He will do his best with the process of going to the Olympics in mind.” 

Meanwhile, in the women’s singles final, Yoon Hyo-bin (24) of Mirae Asset Securities defeated Lee Si-on (Samsung Life Insurance, 26) 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-8) to win the championship. Yoon Hyo-bin is the winner of the 67th category championship in 2021. Yoon Hyo-bin also won the doubles title with her teammate Sim Hyun-joo. In the final, they beat Park Joo-hyun and Kim Ha-eun of Hwaseong City Hall 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-8). Yoon Hyo-bin finished the tournament with two gold medals in her individual event, recapturing her singles title for the first time in two years.