The pair of Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yoo-bin, who are hoping to win a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, have been drawn to face China in the semifinals.

The draw for the Paris Olympic Games table tennis tournament took place on Thursday afternoon (local time) at the South Paris Arena in France.

The draw was based on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings.

Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yubin, who slipped to No. 3 in the mixed doubles world rankings after being upset by Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata ahead of the Olympics, had a 50 percent chance of avoiding China until the semifinals.

If they had finished second, they would have been drawn to face China in the final.

The luck of the “lane” – avoiding China until the semifinals – eluded Lim and Shin.

If they survived to the semifinals, they would be in a position to face China’s world No. 1 Wang Chuqin-Sun Yingxia.

The fourth-ranked pair of Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Du Hoi Kem were the lucky ones to make it to the Japanese side of the draw.

If Lim and Shin lose in the semifinals, they will likely face either Japan or Hong Kong for the bronze medal.

Their first opponent will be Germany’s Chiu Tang-Nina Mittelhamm (ranked 11th).

North Korea’s Ri Jung Sik-Kim Geum Young (unranked) will face Harimoto-Hayata in their first match.

The pair have not played many international tournaments and will be a tricky opponent in the first round.

Mixed doubles has been an Olympic sport since the last Tokyo Games.

Mixed doubles is considered a “surprise” compared to the men’s and women’s singles and team events, which are dominated by China.

In Tokyo, Japan defeated China to win its first ever table tennis gold medal.

The Japanese will try to win their second straight title in the event with the pair of Harimoto-Hayata.

South Korea has also made mixed doubles a strategic event and has been nurturing the pair of Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yoo-bin, with the attitude that “there’s no reason why we can’t win”.

China, whose gold medal winning streak in table tennis since Beijing 2008 came to an end in Tokyo, is going all out for the mixed doubles event, fielding Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingxia, the No. 1 ranked men’s and women’s singles pair, and assigning a specialist coach to the event.

Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yubin were ranked No. 2 in the world before being upset by Harimoto and Hayata at the most recent World Table Tennis (WTT) Bangkok event, dropping to No. 3.

Following the mixed doubles, the draws for the men’s and women’s individual events and the men’s and women’s team events were held.

The press conference room where the draw was held was packed with more than 200 journalists and representatives of the national teams. The draw was held in sweltering heat that resembled a sauna due to insufficient air conditioning. 파워볼게임