The combined team of South Korea and North Korea lost to Japan in the semifinal round by losing three sets in a row with no score. There is no third-place match, so Korea will take the bronze medal with the loser of other the semifinal match between China and Hong Kong.

The Koreans played as one team for the first time since the 1991 world championships in Chiba, Japan. They got gold medals by winning against China.

The team needed to win three matches in order to be the winner. Each team consists of 5 of the best players. The two sides agreed not to argue and work together. However, only three players can actually play semifinals. South Korea sent out Yang Ha-eun and Jeon Ji-hee, while North Korea sent out Kim Song-i. Their opponent was Kasumi Ishikawa, Miu Hirano, and Mima Ito. With these good players, Japan is the second-ranked team in the world next to China.

▲ Jeon Ji-Hee(left) and Kim Song-i(right)

Ito easily took the first singles match over Jeon with a score of 3-0. The Young Japanese player won the first game by 11-2. In the second game, she bounced back, scoring 5-2, but lost again with a score of 11-8. Ito also won the third game, and Japan got a 1-0 lead.

In the second match, a lot of people believed that Kim will win against Ishikawa because she defeated her at the 2016 Summer Olympics, but the Japanese got better off the North Korean this time. They got 2 set points against each other, but Kim lost at the final game.

In the clinching game, Hirano dispatched Yang, with a score of 3-1. Yang tried to win against her, but she closed out Yang, with a score of 11-6 and Japan went to the finals.

▲ a wistful smile after losing against Japan

Although Korea was soundly defeated in an world championships, many people believed this joint Korean team will be the foundation stone of the unification between North Korea and South Korea.

▲ got bronze medal at world championships

May 20th, by Jang Jin Young