Shin Yubin on Getting a Gold Medal After 21 Years: “I Wasn’t Actually Here…I Got Lucky”

“I think this is the first Asian Games we will never forget.”

Jeon Jeon-hee and Shin Yubin defeated North Korea’s Cha Sooyoung and Park Soo-kyong 4-1 (11-6, 11-4, 10-12, 12-10, 11-4) in the women’s table tennis doubles final at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Gungsu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium on Tuesday (June 2) in Hangzhou, China.

The victory marked the first time in 33 years that South Korea has met North Korea in a final and the first time in 21 years that the country has won gold in women’s doubles.

After the match, Shin Yubin said, “It’s so exciting, and now we have a gold medal in our house. I’m glad I played with different tactics and I don’t regret it,” she said after winning the gold medal.

However, she added, “I had an injury. I was actually not here. But then I got lucky, and I was so grateful to be able to play like this,” she said.

It looked like Shin would miss the 2022 national team selection due to her injury and would not compete at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. However, the Games were postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed her to compete.

A month before the start of the Asian Games, we caught up with the athlete at the national team’s training center in Jincheon, where he said, “The timing of my injury and the trials overlapped, and I was in a situation where I couldn’t go. But I got lucky and am happily preparing,” he said.

“I couldn’t use my hands for a year while I was recovering, so I focused on weights. Over the course of a year, my power and quickness improved,” he said, adding that he utilized his injury treatment period as a time to recover and grow.

On the second day, Shin Yubin smiled happily, saying, “I was lucky enough to play and performed well, so I think it was an unforgettable first Asian Games.”

After winning a gold medal at her first Asian Games paired with Jeon Jeon-hee, Shin has now set her sights on the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“At the Tokyo Olympics, I realized that the athletes were different. They had a lot of experience, and their focus was different. I realized that it’s different in a big competition like this.” “I haven’t decided yet, but if I’m going to compete (at the Olympics), I’m going to do what I’ve always done, which is to play without regrets. I need to be better in practice. 먹튀검증토토사이트 If I’m going to go, I’m going to make sure I have no regrets.”